There were 19 minutes of an atrocious Nations League campaign remaining, Germany were leading 2-0 and England had gone 566 minutes without a goal from open play. And then, two came along at once. One from Luke Shaw, another from Mason Mount and then – good Lord – is that a foul on Jude Bellingham?
It was. Harry Kane stepped up. Harry Kane did what he usually does from the penalty spot. Top left corner, absolutely fabulous. And England looked to be heading to Qatar on the back of victory over Germany. How, we were not quite sure.
Yet if ever a team, a manager, needed a win no matter the narrative of the rest of the night it was England and Gareth Southgate. Yet if ever a team is short on confidence it is England under Southgate. So the advantage did not last. Nick Pope, standing in for Jordan Pickford in goal, spilled one and Germany levelled through Kai Havertz. It was no more than they deserved.
Nick Pope gifted Kai Havertz an equaliser as Germany snatched a draw after England came from 2-0 down to lead at Wembley
The Newcastle stopped allowed a shot to squirm from his grasp and Havertz was there to gratefully prod home the rebound
Harry Kane had scored emphatically from 12 yards earlier on to give the Three Lions the lead after the hosts had trailed 2-0
It was another frustrating night for England manager Gareth Southgate, whose team selection continues to divide opinion
So thrills, spills, excitement and all’s well again? Hardly. Yet it will feel a blessed relief that England did not leave the field to boos and a desperate, unlikely, fightback was treated with greater respect than it probably deserved.
This wasn’t good enough, and it surely won’t be in Qatar if England do not find improvement. Yet nobody can argue this is not a team trying for its manager. England looked done at two goals down, but somehow found a way back into the game. They haven’t been able to do that recently. It’s a start.
The manager says he’ll accept the criticism and after this there is going to be plenty of it, despite the result. The faith he is showing in players who are desperately out of form, the staid style of play which gave Germany the initiative, nothing looks as convincing as it once did.
Harry Maguire appears the only man in the country with less rhythm than Tony Adams right now, yet Southgate keeps picking him.
The manager was rewarded on Monday night with one goal for which Maguire was at fault – twice – and another that began with a counter-attack after he lost possession in Germany’s half. And if there was a groundswell of support for Maguire’s selection that would be different.
But Erik ten Hag at Manchester United is no longer picking him, he has lost the club captaincy and everyone can see this is a player desperately out of form. So this one is on Southgate. Germany went two up, largely, down to his judgement call.
Harry Maguire’s lack of mobility was brutally exposed by Bayern Munich wonderkid Jamal Musiala as he gave away a penalty
The Manchester United captain’s position in the side has come under considerable scrutiny, given his struggles at club level
First Maguire gave the ball to Jamal Musiala with a sloppy pass, then he brought him down for a penalty that inexplicably needed to be highlighted by VAR. Ilkay Gundogan scored, Pope standing tall in the centre and then being outwitted with the ball slid into the corner.
Soon after, Maguire went on a run, was nailed in possession and Germany broke. The old Chelsea partnership of Timo Werner and Havertz combined, and Germany were clear.
The mood at Wembley would undoubtedly have turned ugly had there not been a revival out of the blue. For the first goal, substitute Bukayo Saka found Jude Bellingham and his cross made its way to Luke Shaw on the left, his shot travelling through the legs of goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Just three minutes later an excellent shot by Mason Mount after another fine run by Saka levelled. When Nico Schlotterbeck fouled Bellingham soon after, VAR intervened again and delirium resulted. But it was not to be. Serge Gnabry hit a late shot, Pope – who had a worryingly poor game, to go with a rather ordinary one in Milan – could not hold it, and Havertz grabbed his second of the night.
Technically, this was a dead rubber – England are relegated, Germany could not win the group – but the reaction to the goals showed the pressure Southgate and his players are feeling. It is familiar for anyone who has followed the England team for long. The last time God Save The King was sung at a Wembley international was November 28, 1951, a 2-2 draw with Austria. Alf Ramsey and Nat Lofthouse scored, Jackie Milburn couldn’t get in the team, and Tom Finney and Stan Mortensen would have started but for injury. Those were the days.
Ilkay Gundogan showed his composure by stepping up and slotting home from 12 yards to silence the England supporters
Havertz’s first goal of the game was a brilliant curling effort from outside the England box that doubled Germany’s advantage
Of course, that was largely the squad that went to the World Cup the year before and lost to the United States, so maybe those weren’t the days either. In truth there haven’t really been too many days if we remove 1966 and the recent years under Southgate. Except nobody thinks these are the days now, either.
England came into this match relegated – a new one for international competition – and on the back of all sorts of horrid, unwanted, records to do with losing streaks and scoring droughts. It was reflected in the mood. The national anthem was sung with gusto but it was hard to tell the difference between the perfect silence for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the reaction to the match itself until the late scoring frenzy.
It felt like one of those nights at Manchester United when the crowd isn’t motivated to cheer, or even boo. Increasingly, this feels like the endgame of the Southgate era. His detractors have forgotten what it was like before he arrived, his champions are not getting enough to work with. Strange decisions, too. The one to exclude Trent Alexander-Arnold seemed particularly bizarre, creating an issue where there shouldn’t have been one. It was the exact opposite of what Southgate used to do.
Fortunately, Germany are not the force they were, either, despite possessing some of the Premier League’s marquee names. They had the best of the first-half, but lost their way at the mid-point and came close to letting England into the game.
It is a strange tournament, though, the Nations League. In part a genuine competition with a finals and kudos for the winners, humiliation and the drop for the losers. Yet it also serves as a testing ground for fringe players, pitting them against opponents of similar ability. Pope comes in and is immediately tested with the ball at his feet. He didn’t looked comfortable. His first touch served up the ball under pressure and he was lucky Gundogan spooned his shot over the bar.
England rallied, however, and Luke Shaw produced a composed finish past Marc-Andre ter Stegen to claw a goal back
Substitute Mason Mount then showed his class by running on to a loose pass and curling a sumptuous finish into the corner
In other areas, this was a team that may yet raise more questions than provide answers. Southgate went with Maguire and his team-mate Shaw on the left. Will either play regularly for Manchester United when they return to club football? Southgate likes his regulars to be regular and the United pair are on the periphery now.
John Stones could present another problem after he went off with what looked like a hamstring injury after 37 minutes. There is time to recover, of course, but a bad hamstring can take as long as six weeks which runs into the early part of November. Will he get straight back into the Manchester City team? If he doesn’t he could be another one undercooked.
Still, at least Shaw will have left Southgate with a good impression. As well as scoring, he played the pass of the night to put Sterling in after 25 minutes, a beautiful curling affair that took three German players out and left the Chelsea man clear. He checked inside to put it on his stronger foot, then shot too near to ter Stegen, who made an outstanding save.
So it was better than it could have been for England but nobody should kid themselves. The whole nation may be experiencing a Sterling crisis but Southgate has others to worry about, too: not least Maguire.
Pope’s error late on allowed the Germans to leave Wembley with a point and will see him drop behind Jordan Pickford again
It means Gareth Southgate’s side failed to win either of their matches this month and head to Qatar under enormous scrutiny
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