England 2-0 Germany: It's Coming Home?

England took on their arch-nemesis Germany in the last 16 of the Euro 2020 at Wembley.

England has not beaten Germany at a major tournament since winning the 1966 World Cup all those years ago. The last time they faced each other at a major final was the 2010 World Cup when Frank Lampard’s ghost goal was disallowed and then led to Germany thrashing England out of the competition.

The Chelsea duo, Kai Havertz, and Timo Werner started for Germany while Bukayo Saka got the head-up ahead of Phil Foden.

Gareth Southgate reverted to a three at the back with Kyle Walker playing alongside John Stones and Harry Maguire.

Germany could have taken an early lead after Leon Goretzka managed to run freely at goal but Declan Rice fouled him. Rice only received a yellow card because it was outside the box and he was not the last player in the 5th minute.

Kieran Trippier delivered a great cross for Harry Maguire to the header at goal but could not find the accuracy in the 27^th minute.

Harry Kane, who failed to break his goalscoring duck yet in the Euros, had the opportunity in the closing minutes of the first half. Mats Hummels prevented the England skipper from scoring with a last-second tackle after Kane controlled the ball past the German goalkeeper, but he had a good chance of scoring first time from his left foot.

The first half ended with both teams playing cautiously and needed a spark of brilliance to give either team the lead.

The game changed when Jack Grealish was subbed on for Saka in the 69^th minute which led to Grealish passing the ball to Luke Shaw on the wing who then whip the ball for Raheem Sterling, to score his third goal of the Euros in the 75^th minute.

The English Hero almost became the villain after giving the ball carelessly for Kai Havertz to pass to Thomas Müller, who had a one on one chance with Jordan Pickford. Miraculously, the Bayern man missed the goal entirely to the relief of Sterling in the 81^st minute.

Jubilant celebrations from the English fans became louder when Grealish crossed the ball to Kane to score the decisive goal to end the game in the 86^th minute.

The game ended England’s long wait for a win against Germany at a major tournament and opened a route to the finals while Germany manager, Joachim Low, managed his final game for Die Mannschaft.

Source of Image: UEFA EURO 2020 via Twitter