Germany won a tepid encounter in Munich by a single goal to go five points clear of the Netherlands in their Nations League group, leaving the Dutch needing a miracle to progress to the knockout stages.

Jamie Leweling scored the only goal on his international debut when he was given space to fire in a shot from a corner in the second half.

Xavi Simons and Donyell Malen both came close in the final minutes to snatching what would have been an undeserved equaliser, but the latter was denied by an outstanding save from Oliver Baumann, winning his first cap at the age of 34.

Head coach Ronald Koeman admitted his team were “second best on all fronts” and were unable to contain the German players. “After a difficult start we didn’t cause them any problems up front,” the coach said.

“They were better, they were faster, they were more physical. We weren’t good in a lot of aspects of football. I wasn’t shocked, because it’s inherent in this team.”

Both teams were missing key players for the match, notably Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk, who was suspended after being sent off against Hungary on Friday.

Midfield shuffle

Koeman brought in Ajax’s Jorrel Hato at left-back, allowing Micky van de Ven to replace Van Dijk in the centre.

Quinten Timber and Ryan Gravenberch joined Tijjani Reijnders midfield, while Brian Brobbey was selected to lead the line ahead of Joshua Zirkzee.

The match was preceded by a minute’s applause for Johan Neeskens, scorer of the Netherlands’ penalty against West Germany in the 1974 World Cup final in Munich, who died last weekend at the age of 73.

Early scare

Oranje were highly fortunate not to go ahead in the second minute when Hato’s careless pass put Micky Van de Ven in trouble in his own penalty area.

Serge Gnabry nipped the ball off the defender’s toes and played in Leweling to fire a shot past Bart Verbruggen. But the video referee ruled that Gnabry had been standing offside earlier in the move and disallowed the goal.

Leweling had another good chance cleared off the line by Stefan de Vrij midway through the first half as the Dutch struggled to get into the game. Shortly afterward Van de Ven gave the ball away to Tim Kleindienst, but the striker shot over the bar.

Oranje improved after the break as Koeman introduced Feyenoord’s Mats Wieffer in place of Timber and Donyell Malen on the wing, replacing Reijnders.

Leweling breakthrough

But it was the Germans who continued to create the best chances, withktGnabry firing high over the bar after Joshua Kimmich picked him out unmarked in the penalty area.

Leweling finally made the breakthrough in the 64th minute when Van de Ven’s attempted clearance from a corner rolled to the feet of the Stuttgart winger, who smashed the ball into the top corner.

Xavi Simons went close with a long-range shot that grazed the top of the bar as Oranje finally started to make inroads in the German half. And in the last minute Malen brought a fingertip save from Baumann, rising high to claw the ball away from the top corner.

In the evening’s other match, Hungary beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 to go level on points with the second-placed Dutch.