England were spared a second successive UEFA Nations League defeat as Harry Kane’s 50th goal for his country, a coolly taken late penalty kick, salvaged a 1-1 draw away to Germany on Tuesday.
Germany deservedly led through Jonas Hofmann’s 50th-minute effort, but were unable to finish England off.
Kane leveled in the 88th minute after being tripped in the penalty area.
Photo: Reuters
After sustaining their first defeat to Hungary on Saturday in their League A, Group 3 opener, England fielded an experienced lineup in a noisy Allianz Arena, but were down for much of the clash.
Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder Hofmann had the ball in the England net early on as Germany dominated, but an offside flag cut short his celebrations.
However, he was not to be denied and he beat Jordan Pickford with a powerful, slightly deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area five minutes after the interval.
Despite a rather labored performance, England had their chances with Bukayo Saka inches away in first-half stoppage-time, and Mason Mount and Harry Kane both denied by Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer as England sought a leveler.
“It is really important to show the mentality — 1-0 behind we showed good character to get back into the game and get a result,” said Kane, who is now three goals behind England’s all-time top scorer, Wayne Rooney. “We were playing against a very good Germany side. We kept going and played our best football in the last half an hour.”
It was a frustrating end to the game for Germany who have drawn both their opening matches in the group. England, who face group leaders Italy at the weekend, are at the bottom.
Germany were far sharper for most of the evening and thought they had gone ahead midway through the first half when Hofmann galloped clear and beat Pickford, but a video assistant referee confirmed that the offside decision against him was correct.
Stuttgart-born teenager Jamal Musiala, who grew up in London, was a thorn in England’s side down the left side and was involved in much of the home side’s good work.
Germany did get ahead after a neat buildup saw Joshua Kimmich play the ball in to Hofmann, who was allowed to turn too easily to fire a shot that Pickford got a strong hand to, but could not prevent from going into the net.
However, England rallied and when Kane broke into the penalty area on to Jack Grealish’s pass, he was clipped by a stumbling Nico Schlotterbeck and the Spanish referee awarded a penalty.
Also on Tuesday, it was:
‧ Finland 2, Montenegro 0
‧ Italy 2, Hungary 1
‧ Bosnia 1, Romania 0
‧ Lithuania 0, Turkey 6
‧ Faroe Islands 0, Luxembourg 1
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