Harry Kane penalty rescues Nations League point for England in Germany

The Nations League campaign appeared to be turning into a headache for Gareth Southgate and England. The idea had been to show a response to Saturday’s flat 1-0 loss in Hungary but England trailed to Jonas Hofmann’s goal early in the second-half and they had fired only in fits and starts.

And yet they found a way back, the final 20 minutes coming to feel like a golden period for them, the chances coming in increasing volume and clarity. The frustration would have been intense, the questions plentiful, had another tie slipped away from them.

But Harry Kane – who else? - was not in the mood for the soul-searching inquest. He had been denied by Manuel Neuer as England turned the screw late on and, with time almost up, he melted away from Nico Schlotterbeck inside the area to draw a clumsy challenge from the Germany centre-half.

It went to VAR and, after a lengthy delay, the decision was that the contact from Schlotterbeck had been the reason why Kane lost his footing. Kane drilled home the penalty – bringing up his 50th England goal – three short of Wayne Rooney’s record and he could even have snatched a late winner only to fluff a sidefoot. England were more than happy with the point.

Southgate had not hidden his frustration at the Hungary result. “The reality is that it’s a defeat we should not have had,” he said, and he went with a strong lineup here, arguably his strongest available, for a game which felt more loaded and valuable in terms of World Cup preparation than any other this season.

Germany entered on an unbeaten run of ten matches under Hansi Flick and Southgate knew what to expect – shades of Bayern Munich, who Flick had managed last season; plenty of technique and aggression.

Southgate started with Kieran