Germany 1-1 England
Harry Kane came to England’s rescue in Munich as he scored his 50th career international goal through a late penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw with old rivals Germany in their big UEFA Nations League clash.
The home side had taken the lead through Jonas Hofmann early in the second half. But a late challenge on Kane led to an England penalty, which Kane himself converted in typically cool fashion to give the Three Lions their first point of the new Nations League campaign.
Read on below as SBOTOP breaks down another thrilling battle between the two bitter rivals, England and Germany.
Highlights of the game
Both sides made significant changes to their starting line-ups after failing to win their respective UEFA Nations League openers. Germany went back to a 3-4-2-1 after their 4-2-3-1 struggled to break down Italy.
Meanwhile, England went the other way as they reverted to the 4-2-3-1 formation after their experimental 3-4-3 had a hard time against Hungary. And save for Luke Shaw, Gareth Southgate fielded the same starting lineup that defeated Germany in the Euro 2020 round of 16.
Unfortunately, though, England were dealt an early blow as midfielder Kalvin Phillips – who had a torrid time with injury at Leeds this season – had to exit within the first quarter of an hour with what appeared to be another thigh injury.
Germany thought they had taken the lead when Jonas Hofmann got through on goal and slotted past Jordan Pickford. But the goal was rightly disallowed as Hofmann had strayed offside.
However, Hofmann would eventually hand the home side the lead five minutes after half-time. After a patient passing move by the Germans, Joshua Kimmich expertly picked out Hofmann in the box, and the Borussia Monchengladbach man – with the help of a deflection from Harry Maguire – got his shot past Pickford’s outstretched hand.
The English very nearly struck back immediately as Mason Mount unleashed a powerful shot from distance, but Manuel Neuer was a match for it as he parried it away.
The Germans came close to doubling their advantage on 70 minutes as David Raum found Thomas Muller unmarked at the back post. The Bayern Munich star connected well with his volley, but Pickford made a crucial stop on his near post to deny Muller. And Pickford many another key save on Timo Werner just a few minutes later.
But after that, it was Neuer’s turn to produce a tremendous save as he denied Kane’s goal-bound sliding shot.
However, Kane would not be denied again as he won a penalty five minutes from time. The referee did not initially whistle for a penalty, but after a VAR review, England were eventually awarded the spot kick as German centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck brought Kane down in the box.
The England skipper stepped up to take the kick himself, and he made no mistake as he sent Neuer the wrong way to score the equalising goal.
Key statistics
While Germany controlled a good deal of possession at home – 63-37 – it was England who created more chances as they finished with a 15-10 edge on shots. Although, the two sides finished level on shots on target with six apiece.
Kane bounced back from his unusually quiet game against Hungary as he had a game-high five shots, three of which were on target. And with his goal, Kane has now reached a half-century mark for his country – thanks to 15 penalties – and is now just three goals behind Wayne Rooney on the all-time England top scorers list.
On the other side, Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz delivered the majority of Germany’s UEFA Nations League 2022 highlights with three shots each.
What’s next?
There’s more UEFA Nations League action coming up for both sides over the next week.
For Germany, they will go away to Hungary for their next match, then host Italy, with whom they drew in their fist Nations League match.
As for England, who are still searching for their first win in this Nations League campaign, they are set for their big Euro 2020 final rematch against the Azzurri at Wembley. The UEFA Nations League 2022 betting odds will back the Three Lions to get the win this time around against the struggling European champions.
And England will stay at home as they cap off this busy run of UEFA Nations League matches against Hungary.
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