Offside

Result – England vs Germany (3-3)

Lineups :
England – N. Pope, J. Stones, E. Dier, H. Maguire, R. James, J. Bellingham, D. Rice, L. Shaw, P. Foden, R. Sterling, H. Kane. (3-4-2-1)
Manager – G. Southgate.
Germany – M. ter Stegen, T. Kehrer, N. Süle, N. Schlotterbeck, D. Raum, J. Kimmich, İ. Gündoğan, J. Hofmann, J. Musiala, L. Sané, K. Havertz. (4-2-3-1)
Manager – H.Flick.

England was already relegated going into this match but still they had something to prove after an agonizing defeat in Milan against the Euro 2020 winners Italy. However, the match was a draw but surely the Englishmen might be a little disappointed with their performance. As for Germany they gave away a game that they would have won very convincingly, from a neutral perspective this match was unpredictable and highly entertaining fixture but both teams should reflect on these results as well as their previous games which proves that the two teams have not been able to bring their A-game which is quite concerning as FIFA World Cup 2022 is just around the corner.
Back to the match report, Raheem Sterling and Saka had a couple of chances but somehow they failed to find the back of the net, though Sterling did put up a great performance and made the night difficult for German defenders. ter Stegen was the one to deny Sterling a chance to score which exposed the crude finishing of the Chelsea winger. England played a satisfactory 45 minutes but soon after the commencement of 2nd Half, Germany was rewarded a penalty courtesy of Harry Maguire which was converted by Gündoğan to give Germans the lead. Southgate himself professed that he would start players who are in-form at their respective clubs but somehow Harry Maguire always starts for England while a better in-form player Fikayo Tomori was not even in the list. The first goal rattled the Englishmen and another goal was conceded when Kai Havertz found the net, Pope performed very poorly as the deputy of Pickford which caused a lot of trouble for England, though we cannot take anything away from Havertz for the beauty of a goal he scored. Luke Shaw then nutmegged ter Stegen that brought back some composure which would lead to another rocket of a goal from the super-sub Mason Mount. Germany gave away a careless penalty which would be scored by Harry Kane who rattled the top left corner, bringing the Three Lions in the lead, however, the lead did not last long as Havertz scored a tap-in as Pope once again failed to protect both the goalpost and the win.
Either of the teams could have taken the cake but managerial and individual errors on both parts led to a draw, the game though was enjoyable to watch.