Ukraine's victory over Spain, a sensation from Luxembourg and six goals in Cologne: what are the memories of the 3rd round of the League of Nations

Scoring draw between Germany and Switzerland

The most productive match of the game of the day took place in Cologne, where Germany broke with Switzerland in peace - 3: 3.

Moreover, it was the Swiss who were closer to victory, who literally crushed their formidable opponent at the start of the meeting. 

By the 26th minute, the guests were leading (2: 0) thanks to goals from Mario Gavranovic and Remo Freuler.

It is noteworthy that the second effective attack of Vladimir Petkovich's charges began after a gross mistake by Toni Kroos, who was playing the hundredth match in the German national team.

However, the Germans quickly managed to close the score gap.

And at the beginning of the second half, three goals were scored in just six minutes.

First, Kai Havertz evened the score.

Then Gavranovich made a double.

Finally, Serge Gnabry once again restored the status quo to the scoreboard.

Despite the fact that half an hour remained before the final whistle, the opponents failed to score more.

Thus, the Swiss drew with Germany for the second time in the current League of Nations.

The first match between them, which took place in September in Basel, ended with a score - 1: 1.

And these are the only points scored by the Swiss national team in this tournament. 

Ukraine's sensational victory

But the real sensation took place in another match of Group 4. Ukraine in Kiev unexpectedly beat Spain with a minimum score.

This victory became doubly valuable for the Ukrainians, given that they approached the game without a dozen injured and quarantined footballers. 

In the semi-reserve squad, the yellow-blues in October crushingly lost to France in a friendly match (1: 7), and then lost to Germany with dignity (1: 2).

At the same time, after the meeting with the Germans, the Ukrainians also lost their main midfielder Ruslan Malinovsky due to disqualification.

But even without him, Andriy Shevchenko's charges created a real sensation.

The main hero of the confrontation was the goalkeeper Georgy Buschan, who made eight saves and played to zero.

Spain failed to score, but Ukraine, 14 minutes before the final whistle, realized a rare chance.

Viktor Tsygankov fled almost one-on-one with David De Gea and outplayed an opponent who was far out of the gate. 

Thus, Spain lost to Ukraine for the first time in history.

Now she has two defeats from the national teams representing the countries of the post-Soviet space.

In 2016, the "Red Fury" managed to upset Georgia. 

Bad luck of Azerbaijan

In turn, Azerbaijan did not manage to beat Cyprus within the framework of Group 1 of League C - 0: 0.

Due to the tense situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the match was held in the Albanian Elbasan. 

The Azerbaijanis did everything in order to beat the opponent for the second time in a row, but they did not manage to break through the 21-year-old debutant Demetris Demetriou, who made six saves.

The Caucasian team failed to distinguish themselves even from the penalty spot.

Demetriou parried Gara Garayev's shot from the “point”. 

The former striker of the youth national team of Russia Ramil Sheydaev, who did not realize two one-on-one trips at once, distinguished himself with a minus sign. 

Three removals in added time

But Montenegro, also performing in this group, had a chance to secure the first place and a promotion in the class.

For this, the Balkan team, which won three victories in the first three matches, had to beat Luxembourg at home.

However, Faruk Hadzhibegich's wards suffered an unexpected defeat - 1: 2.

Moreover, there was no question of any advantage of the owners.

Although the guests conceded first, they managed to recoup shortly before the break.

And in the 86th minute, Danel Sinani brought a strong-willed victory to the team of the Grand Duke.

It is noteworthy that the striker of the Belgian "Wasland-Beveren", the rights to which belong to the English "Norwich", scored the third goal in the last two matches of the national team.

Finally, in stoppage time, the judge Sasha Stegemann showed three red cards at once: two - to the Montenegrins and one - to the Luxembourgian.

It was Ufa midfielder Olivier Till, who had recently appeared on the pitch, but managed to take part in the scuffle.

However, this did not prevent Luxembourg from catching up with Montenegro in the standings with nine points.

Malta's victory in the 96th minute

Another unexpected result was recorded in Riga, where Latvia lost with a minimum score to Malta.

The hosts struck 17 shots on other people's goals, but failed to distinguish themselves.

The guests scored in the 96th minute, when, after serving from a standard, Steve Borg sent the ball into the far corner with his head. 

During the first round of the current season of the League of Nations, the Latvians in the group with Malta, Andorra and the Faroe Islands failed to win a single victory.