England were spared a second successive Nations League defeat as Harry Kane’s 50th goal for his country, a coolly-taken late penalty, salvaged a 1-1 draw away to Germany on Tuesday.
Germany deservedly led through Jonas Hofmann’s 50th-minute effort but were unable to finish England off and Kane levelled in the 88th minute after being tripped in the area.
After suffering a first defeat by Hungary for 60 years on Saturday in their opening League A, Group Three fixture, England fielded an experienced lineup in a noisy Allianz Arena but were second best for much of the clash.
Italy back to winning ways with Nations League victory over Hungary
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PremiumFirst-half goals from Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Pellegrini earned Italy a 2-1 win over Hungary in the Nations League on Tuesday.
Coach Roberto Mancini again named an experimental Italy side, but that mattered little as the hosts dominated from the off in Cesena, deservedly taking the lead on the half-hour mark through Inter Milan midfielder Barella.
AS Roma skipper Pellegrini followed up his goal in Saturday’s Nations League opener against Germany with another strike just before halftime to put Italy into a commanding position.
An own goal from Gianluca Mancini gave Hungary hope of building on their surprise win over England at the weekend with a credible point in Cesena, but Italy held on to move onto four points from their two opening League A, Group Three games.
Australia and Arnold keep trucking on rocky road to Qatar
Australia and their embattled coach Graham Arnold live to fight another day.
The Socceroos’ 2-1 win against the United Arab Emirates in Doha on Tuesday keeps them in the hunt for a fifth straight World Cup appearance, though they must raise their game to get past Peru in an intercontinental playoff next week.
The victory over the Emirates side was hardly a convincing way to advance, their late winner coming off a deflected Ajdin Hrustic volley, but it fits the pattern of a team who have relied more on grit than class at the sharp end of qualification.
Arnold has largely shouldered the blame for Australia’s qualifying troubles while personally struggling with COVID-19 on two separate occasions and losing a string of players to the novel coronavirus.
In another unavoidable setback, he lost key playmaker Tom Rogic, who pulled out of the World Cup playoff due to personal reasons which Arnold admitted he was not privy to.
Further challenges loom as he prepares to take on world number 22 Peru, ranked 20 places higher than his team.
