England painfully lost in the Nations League on Tuesday. Last year’s losing European Championship finalist lost 0-4 to Hungary in Wolverhampton in front of his own audience, and suffered his biggest home defeat since 1928. Germany put Italy in the spotlight.
The disastrous evening for England already showed itself in the opening phase, as Hungary opened after more than fifteen minutes of play via Roland Sallai. The home team did not offer anything in return before half-time and saw the score increase further after the interruption.
Sallai made the decisive 0-2 twenty minutes before the end, after which nothing was spared for the team of national coach Gareth Southgate. Zsolt Nagy made it 0-3 in the eightieth minute and Daniel Gazdag determined the final score at 0-4, after John Stones had to call in with his second yellow card of the game. It is England’s biggest home defeat in 94 years.
The unprecedented victory in England put Hungary in the lead in group 3 of the Nations League. The Hungarians, who also won at home against England (1-0), have seven points from four matches, one point more than number two Germany. England are last with two points.
Standings in Division A, Group 3
- 1. Hungary 4-7 (+4)
- 2. Germany 4-6 (+4)
- 3. Italy 4-5 (-3)
- 4. England 4-2 (-5)
Germany won 5-2 against Italy, partly thanks to a goal from Thomas Müller.
Germany won 5-2 against Italy, partly thanks to a goal from Thomas Müller. Photo: AP
Italy goes against Germany
On the other side of the North Sea, Italy experienced a setback in Germany. The European champion lost 5-2 in Mönchengladbach at ‘Die Mannschaft’.
Germany had drawn three times before the game with Italy, but that bad series was hardly noticeable in the Borussia Park. ‘Die Mannschaft’ scored after ten minutes via Joshua Kimmich, who was able to tap in a cross from David Raum completely free.
Italy did nothing at all in Germany and on the stroke of half-time also got the 2-0 around the ears. Jonas Hofmann was knocked to the ground by Alessandro Bastoni and Ilkay Gündogan then made no mistake from 11 meters.
After the break, Italy collapsed in a disconcerting way and Germany ran out to 5-0 in less than twenty minutes. Thomas Müller worked a falling cross against the ropes in the 51st minute, after which Timo Werner scored the 4-0 and 5-0 in two minutes. At the last goal, the Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma handed in just like that.
Italy did something back in the final phase via eighteen-year-old Wilfried Gnonto, who scored his first international goal for the European champion, and Bastoni. With that, they could not prevent a failure for the team of national coach Roberto Mancini.