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German 3rd Division side DSC Arminia Bielefeld played host to EPL outfit Sunderland AFC in a pre-season friendly and managed to record an impressive 1-1 draw at the SchücoArena.
“Black Cats” coach Steve Bruce had to skip Asamoah Gyan and Wes Brown from the squad due to minor injuries they picked up during their pre-season camp in Germany.
Arminia Bielefeld looked the better side in the early minutes of the game and they put some pressure on the visitors. But Steve Bruce’s team found into the game and made the match an evenly balanced affair after 15 minutes.
Sunderland had the first chance of the match in the 22nd minute, when Korean international Ji Dong-Won was brought down in the Bielefeld half to win a free kick for his team. Skipper Lee Cattermole took the resulting free kick and Bielefeld keeper Patrick Platins had his difficulties to save the shot on target. But the young keeper was lucky that his defence was on alert to clear the situation.
Arminia Bielefeld could have taken the lead just ten minutes later, but Johannes Rahn failed to convert a cross from the right flank by Patrick Schönfeld.
The match went into half-time with a goalless draw in-front of 6,261 spectators.
Bielefeld took the lead in the 63rd minute through Eric Agyemang, who converted a penalty kick. Agyemang was brought down in the box and he showed no nervousness from the spot as he slotted the ball into the Sunderland goal to give Arminia a 1-0 lead.
But Sunderland didn’t surrender and they levelled the score in the 71st minute. Stéphane Sessegnon took advantage of some defensive error after a corner and netted the ball into the Bielefeld goal from a short distance.
The match almost ended in favour of the host team after a goalkeeping blunder by Sunderland’s Simon Mignolet. Mignolet failed to snatch a shot on target and the ball almost went into the net in the 90th minute. But the keeper managed to control the ball just inches before the goal line and both teams settled for 1-1 draw at the SchücoArena.
Arminia Bielefeld will kick off their 3rd Division season next weekend with a match against VfB Stuttgart II, while Sunderland will continue their pre-season camp in Germany with two more friendly matches.
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