GERMANY 1, ENGLAND 0
- Lukas Podolski scores the winner in his last game for Germany – his 49th goal in 130 appearances.
- England have failed to keep a clean sheet against Germany, who haven’t conceded a goal in 648 minutes, in their last 8 games.
- Gareth Southgate employs 3-4-3 formation but suffers his first defeat as England manager.
- Debuts for Michael Keane, Jake Livermore, and Nathan Redmond.
Ex-Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski scored a fantastic 49th international goal on his 130th and final appearance for the German national team as the Germans won 1-0 at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion.
It was England manager Gareth Southgate’s first defeat as the England manager in his fifth game in charge of the national team – his first game as the full-time permanent boss.
Playing an inventive 3-4-3 formation, Southgate opted for an experimental team ahead of Sunday’s World Cup qualifier at Wembley against Lithuania.
The tactic seemed to work despite an under-strength line-up with England’s attacking full backs adapting well to a more forward thinking wide role with solid central midfielders giving additional protection to the three man defence.
In the first half they kept a strangely out-of-sorts German side out of the game but Michael Keane wasted an early chance, shooting high, while Adam Lallana hit the post and the lively Dele Alli had a shot saved by Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
Eric Dier was also denied by Ter Stegen before Podolski popped up in the 69th minute to beat Joe Hart with a shot that lit up an otherwise pedestrian game played at testimonial pace in Germany.
The veteran striker was given the ball by Andre Shurrle 30 yards out, and one touch later and blasted a rising thunderbolt into the top corner past Hart.
Hart had made a mess of a punched clearance at the start of the second period which Julian Brandt returned just wide of his goal, but he redeemed himself with a save from City winger Leroy Sane however mass substitutions were already disrupting the game.
The Germans had stepped up a couple of gears in the second half to earn their goal and Podolski was rightly given plenty of applause from the home fans as he bade farewell to the international stage with six minutes to go.
With a competitive game in a matter of days, Southgate will be desperate for his team to earn another three points to consolidate their grip on first place in their World Cup qualification group.
England were missing John Stones, Raheem Sterling, and Harry Kane against a similarly weakened German side missing even more first choice players.
If they can adapt to Southgate’s tactical plans, though, the national team can look forward to a more promising future.