Two own goals help Germany thrash Portugal

 


Portugal 2-4 Germany: Joachim Low's side look like a Euro 2020 contenders after help from Ruben Dias and Raphael Gueirrero own goals.

Match report as Germany send message to Euro 2020 rivals with impressive, crucial win over defending champions Portugal; Kai Havertz becomes Germany's youngest scorer at a Euros; own goals from Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro after Cristiano Ronaldo's opener boost hosts' knockout hopes

Germany's Kai Havertz celebrates with Thomas Mueller after scoring against Portugal
Image:Germany's Kai Havertz celebrates with Thomas Muller after scoring against Portugal in Munich

Two own goals in four first-half minutes helped a rejuvenated Germany to a crucial 4-2 comeback thrashing of Portugal in a sweltering hot Euro 2020 Group F blockbuster in Munich.  

The pressure was on the hosts after their opening match loss to France and, after a positive start, they went behind to a brilliant counter-attack from Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo tapping in his 107th international goal and first against Germany after good work from Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota.

There were just 15 minutes on the clock but Germany were frustrated and their hopes of a place in the knockout stages was in doubt - but the game then flipped on its head when Portugal defenders Ruben Dias (35) and Raphael Guerreiro (39) each turned the ball into their own net.

It is the first time in major tournament history a team has scored two own goals in a game and was the lift Germany needed, with Kai Havertz (51) converting from close range to become their youngest-ever scorer at a Euros before Robin Gosens - who had put in crosses for two of the earlier goals - nodded in a free header at the back post on the hour.

There was hope for Portugal when an unmarked Ronaldo set up Jota (67) to pull one back and Renato Sanches crashed a shot against the woodwork but the defending champions had left themselves too much to do and, after a heavyweight match-up which lived up to its billing, an ominous-looking Germany moved second in the pool, ahead of Portugal on head-to-head records.

Pos.PPtsForm
1France24
WD
2Germany23
LW
3Portugal23
WL
4Hungary21
LD

Tap on players for match stats

7315182521131424510116104202127
Substitutes
6
26
12
8
15
9
20
22
17
19
16
18
17
15
23
24
12
9
22
11
19
18
3
26

Player ratings

Portugal: Patricio (5), Semedo (5), Dias (4), Pepe (5), Guerreiro (4), Carvalho (5), Danilo (5), Bernardo Silva (6), Fernandes (6), Jota (7), Ronaldo (7). 

Subs used: Sanches (7), Moutinho (6), Rafa (5), Andre Silva (N/A) 

Germany: Neuer (6), Ginter (6), Hummels (7), Rudiger (6), Kimmich (8), Gundogan (5), Kroos (7), Gosens (9), Havertz (8), Muller (8), Gnabry (8). 

Subs used: Halstenberg (6), Sule (6), Can (6), Goretzka (7), Sane (N/A) 

Man of the match: Robin Gosens (Germany)

How Germany turned their tournament around...

With France drawing against Hungary earlier in the day, Germany knew they needed to take the game to Portugal and they did that emphatically inside five minutes, with Gosens acrobatically converting Matthias Ginter's cross at the back post - but an offside flag against Serge Gnabry curtailed the hosts' celebrations.

Havertz then tested Rui Patricio from the edge of the box, with Gnabry latching onto the rebound but unable to find the net, before Dias threw himself in the way of a Toni Kroos strike as Germany's fast start continued

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