Kiessling saves late point for Germany

Ricarda Kiessling's last-second strike denied China are second straight win in Group D to secure a 1-1 draw for Germany at Bayil Stadium.

Germany, who have won six of their seven opening-round games at FIFA U-17 Women's World Cups, could have assured themselves of a place in the Azerbaijan 2012 quarter-finals had they continue that form.

Predictably, the Germans came out strong against the Chinese. Vivien Bell tried a shot from distance in the early minutes, but Chinese goalkeeper Lu Feifei was equal to the task.

After seven minutes, Zhang Chen created the first dangerous moment for the German defence with a mazy run into the box, but her efforts were eventually halted by the lunging Lena Luckel. The Chinese only had to wait until the 12th minute to get the game's opening goal. Miao Siwen picked up a fine pass from Li Mengwen before hammering a powerful shot from 20 yards into the top corner.

The half finished with a high tempo which bled straight into the second period, with China making the more impressive headway. Germany on the other hand struggled to make an impact against a well-organised defence.

The introduction of striker Venus El-Kassem with 15 minutes to go improved their efforts, forcing Feifei into a save, but was taken off soon after through injury. This saw replacement Kiessling step up to the plate and nod home a free-kick with 94 minutes on the clock to save a point.

The quote
"We are very happy with this result. In the second half we put a lot of effort towards finding an equaliser and finally were rewarded at the end of the game. China, as we expected, were a strong opponent and they played very well." Anouschka Bernhard, Germany coach