Germany were forced to see out the last 20 minutes of their UEFA Under-21 European Championship opener against with 10 men as they drew 1-1 in Prague.

Serbia made a fast start and took the lead on eight minutes after Filip Djuricic shook off the attention of Robin Knoche before firing into the bottom corner.

However, their lead would last only nine minutes as the Germans got back on level terms after Emre Can wrong-footed Darko Brasanac on the edge of the box before finding the back of the net.

The Serbians almost retook the lead on the stroke of half time following a strike from captain Goran Causic, which came back off the crossbar with Barcelona keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen beaten.

Germany's push for victory was done no favours by Christian Gunter's sending-off on 69 minutes. The Freiburg player appeared to go down under the challenge of Brasanac, but referee Javier Estrada rightly adjudged that Gunter was guilty of simulation and gave him a second yellow card.

Horst Hrubesch's team refused to give up, despite being down to 10 men, and thought they should have had a penalty late on for Filip Stojkovic's challenge on Amin Younes, although the referee felt that the tackle was fair.

However, the 2009 champions were able to hold on for a point and face table-topping Denmark at the Eden Arena on Saturday.