England finally earn first point after 1-1 draw with Germany; Italy wins

Munich, June 8 (IANS): England football captain Harry Kane helped his team pick up a point, scoring a second-half penalty to draw the Group 3 UEFA Nations League match against Germany 1-1 here.

Jonas Hofmann’s second-half strike looked like it would condemn England to a second successive loss in the tournament, but Kane made sure that would not be the case, picking himself up to score his 50th goal for the country after being brought down in the box five minutes from time.

Nico Schlotterbeck had caught the back of Kane’s ankle as he chased a ball from Raheem Sterling, and the skipper then fired his spot-kick into the bottom left corner, according to englandfootball.com.

Following the 1-0 defeat to Hungary in the opening match of the Nations League, England needed something from the game against Germany, and they got it after responding well to going behind.

England’s last trip to Munich saw them record one of their most famous victories, Michael Owen scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 success on the way to qualification for the 2002 World Cup. But Tuesday’s encounter was a much tighter affair.

Germany had the better of the first half, with Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier making important interventions in their own box.

After an early Kane effort, England’s best moments came at the end of the half, with Bukayo Saka looking dangerous as half time approached and saw a shot go wide of the post after cutting in from the right.

Germany had signalled their intent early on, with Walker having to be very alert to get in front of Thomas Muller at the back post from a corner after just two minutes. In an open game, England were soon threatening at the other end.

The second half started with a bang for Germany, with Hofmann firing home from 15 metres out after being played in by Joshua Kimmich. Jordan Pickford got a hand to it but could not deny the midfielder. Pickford then kept England in it with two crucial saves, denying Gundogan and Muller to give his side a chance.

Manuel Neuer was proving a tough nut to crack at the other end, somehow keeping Kane out when he was put in at the back post. But there was no stopping the England captain from the spot, and despite some threats from both sides in the closing minutes, the points were shared.

Italy Wins

Lorenzo Pellegrini continued his impressive scoring form to help Italy beat Hungary 2-1 in Cesena.

Pellegrini finished off a well-worked team move on the stroke of halftime when Matteo Politano cut into the right side of the area and put in a low cross for the Roma midfielder to slot in at the far post.

It was Pellegrini’s second goal in as many matches for Italy, having also scored against Germany. Pellegrini scored nine times for Roma in Serie A last season and five times in the Europa Conference League to help his team win the trophy.

Nicolò Barella had scored Italy’s opener in the 30th minute. Leonardo Spinazzola controlled a long ball over the top and rolled it across the edge of the area for Barella to place a precise shot into the top left corner.

Italy was playing with renewed enthusiasm and had several chances to score a third. But the Azzurri allowed Hungary back into the game in the 61st minute when Gianluca Mancini turned a cross from substitute Attila Fiola into his own net.

It was nevertheless a convincing performance from Roberto Mancini’s team which is going through a rebuilding process again. European champion Italy did not qualify for a second consecutive World Cup and lost 3-0 to Argentina in the Finalissima last week.

Also, Turkey romped to a 6-0 win in Lithuania and Luxembourg enjoyed a 1-0 win in the Faeroe Islands.

Finland defeated Montenegro 2-0 and a goal from Smail Prevljak was enough for Bosnia-Herzegovina to defeat Romania 1-0.