Kane's 50th England goal rescues draw with Germany

Sports Desk :    |    ১২:৫১ পিএম, ২০২২-০৬-০৮

England captain Harry Kane scored his 50th international goal on Tuesday by converting a late penalty in Munich to seal a 1-1 Nations League draw with Germany.

Germany broke the deadlock when Jonas Hofmann fired the hosts ahead at the Allianz Arena, but Kane levelled from the spot with two minutes left.Germany defender Nico Schlotterbeck stumbled into Kane in the area and the penalty was given after a VAR review.

The Tottenham striker moved into outright second -- just three behind Wayne Rooney -- on England's list of all-time leading goalscorers, passing Bobby Charlton's total of 49.

"It's a really nice feeling," Kane told Channel Four."I had a couple of early chances and thought it could be one of those days."

"It's good to get the goal and it's just a shame we didn't nick it in the end," added Kane, who had earlier been denied by a superb Manuel Neuer save.Gareth Southgate's side remain bottom of Group A3 after losing 1-0 to Hungary in Budapest last Saturday.

Southgate was "pleased with lots of parts" of the England performance."The Germans are the masters of tournaments and this was a good test," he told ZDF."Most of this (England) team has played a World Cup semi-final and the Euro 2020 final -- they showed the character to fight for a point."

Germany, who visit Hungary on Saturday, are a point above them in third as the Germans' coach Hansi Flick extended his unbeaten run to 11 games, dating back to September.

"We played a really good game, but weren't rewarded for the performance," Flick told ZDF.
Germany, playing in the shirts of their national women's team, twice breached the England defence in the first half without reward.

Thomas Mueller lobbed the ball over England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, but the whistle had already gone after an injury to Kalvin Phillips, who was replaced by Jude Bellingham.

Hofmann then broke clear and fired past Pickford, but after a VAR check, the effort was ruled offside.

Neuer, who captained Germany for the 54th time to overtake 2014 World Cup-winning skipper Philipp Lahm, made a reflex save to deny Bukayo Saka.England struggled to get the ball into the box, especially in the first half, when Kane was closely marshalled by the German defence.

Germany were finally rewarded for their pressure early in the second period.Joshua Kimmich split the defence with a pass into the feet of Hofmann, who drilled in a shot which Pickford could only get a glove to.

Only a fine stop by Pickford prevented Mueller marking his 114th international appearance with a goal.Neuer again came to Germany's rescue with another excellent save from Kane's close-range effort.

However, there was no denying England's captain who sent Neuer the wrong way from the spot."It's bitter to concede the equaliser -- extremely stupid," Hofmann said. "But we created good chances and it was a decent performance."