The Dresden Cup kicked off on Friday night and the early match saw Real Betis defeat Bundesliga side Werder Bremen 1-0, while the latter fixture pitted tournament hosts, Dynamo Dresden up against Premier League outfit, Everton.
It was the 2. Bundesliga side that impressed in front of their home fans, as Pascal Testroet's stunning winner proved enough to secure a 2-1 win. Everton had levelled the game through the lively Gerard Deulofeu after Niklas Hauptmann's early opener.
Pre-season form
Everton flew into Germany on the back of three comfortable victories, pre-season started with a training camp win over FK Jablonec and then Everton travelled home to England to ease past Barnsley 3-0 and Milton Keynes Dons 3-1.
Dynamo Dresden head into the game with their pre-season almost complete, they've already played five games with the 2. Bundesliga starting next weekend. During those five games Dresden have won twice, loss once and drawn twice; the latest being a hard fought draw against Bundesliga side Ingolstadt.
Level at the break
The first chance of the game went in the direction of Everton. Gerard Deulofeu managed to fire towards goal and he was unfortunately denied by the woodwork.
Everton were punished for the missed opportunity as four minutes later they found themselves behind. A lovely move saw the ball roll through into the path of Erich Berko and the winger played the ball across area for Hauptmann to slide in and poke home.
Deulofeu was the only player causing the hosts any problems in the first half and the Spaniard found space once more, this time out wide on the left which saw him came inside to beat the Dresden defence before his finish was excellently saved by Patrick Wiegers. The resulting corner saw John Stones leap the highest at the back post and his header narrowly flew over and onto the roof of the net.
As previously mentioned, Deulofeu was the only one showing moments of quality and another great run forced a free-kick just outside the area. The Spaniard was the man that stepped up for the challenge and he fired the free kick brilliantly over the wall and in off the underside of the crossbar.
Testroet's stunner seals shock win
There were no testing chances in the opening ten minutes of the second half, however Everton did manage to get two shots off from just outside the area. Firstly Aaron Lennon dragged an effort well wide, and shortly after Ross Barkley fired over from a similar area.
For the away side Deulofeu came agonisingly close to scoring his and Everton's second just after the hour mark. He once again found space as Kevin Mirallas fed the ball through and the winger fired across goal and just past the post.
The home side punished the wasteful Everton in fantastic fashion. Pascal Testroet found space and without much thought he wonderfully fired an effort powerfully in off the post as Maarten Stekelenburg was left frozen in his spot.
Despite Everton having the most of possession it was the home side that were proving to be the more clinical and they came close to making it 3-1. Aias Aosman picked up the ball outside the area and he unleashed a great effort from range which flew just wide.
The last bit of action fell to Everton and once more it was Deulofeu, Mirallas was the provider again and fortunately for Dresden the Spaniard took too long to get an effort on goal and when he finally did Wiegers was on hand to smother the ball.
A disappointing start to the Dresden cup for Everton and things won't get easier for the Merseyside club as tomorrow they face Spanish side Real Betis. Dresden picked up the dream start to this tournament and will face Werder Bremen in the late game.