Kane rescues England to close on Rooney record

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

Germany broke the deadlock when Jonas Hofmann fired the host ahead at Allianz Arena, but Kane equalized from the spot with two minutes left.

Germany defender Nico Schlotterbeck stumbled into Kane in the area and the penalty was awarded following a VAR review.

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

"It's a really nice feeling," Kane told Channel 4. "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 remains bottom of Group A3 after losing 1-0 to Hungary in Budapest last Saturday.

Southgate said he 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 semifinal and the Euro 2020 final－they showed the character to fight for a point."

Germany, which will visit Hungary on Saturday, is a point above England in third as head 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 its national women's team as a "show of support" ahead of this summer's UEFA Women's European Championship, twice breached the England defense in the first half without reward.

Thomas Mueller lobbed over England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, but the whistle had already sounded 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 host's defense.

Germany was finally rewarded for its pressure early in the second period.

Joshua Kimmich split the defense with a pass into the feet of Hofmann, who drilled in a shot which Pickford could only get a glove to.

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 equalizer－extremely stupid," midfielder Hofmann said. "But we created good chances and it was a decent performance."

New-look Italy wins

Italy moved top of Group A3 after a new-look team continued its unbeaten start to the campaign with a 2-1 triumph over Hungary.

First-half goals from Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Pellegrini in Cesena earned the win to put Roberto Mancini's side a point ahead of second-placed Hungary.

A largely impressive display was blighted by Gianluca Mancini's 61st-minute own goal which gave the match a scoreline that flattered Hungary, led by coach Mancini's former Sampdoria teammate Marco Rossi.

The European champion, which this year failed to qualify for a second straight World Cup, now travels to Wolverhampton to face England on Saturday before taking on Germany in Moenchengladbach three days later.

"It was a good performance, especially in the first half. Their goal made us a little bit fearful but it was a match which we should have won by a bigger margin," Mancini told RAI.

"This is a team full of young players who need to work a lot, we've got a long way to go."

Mancini selected a host of players who played little or no role in Italy's triumph at Euro 2020, the glow of which has dimmed after they were dumped out of this year's World Cup in Qatar by North Macedonia in March.

Before Tuesday's match Italy had won just three of the 11 fixtures played since being crowned king of Europe at Wembley in July, one of those a meaningless win in Turkey days after its playoff defeat to North Macedonia.

It was nevertheless a convincing performance from Roberto Mancini's team which is going through a rebuilding process again. European champion Italy did not qualify for a second consecutive World Cup and lost 3-0 to Argentina in the Finalissima last week.

Elsewhere, Turkey romped to a 6-0 win in Lithuania and Luxembourg enjoyed a 1-0 win in the Faroe Islands.

Finland defeated Montenegro 2-0 and a goal from Smail Prevljak was enough for Bosnia-Herzegovina to defeat Romania 1-0.

Agencies