England get lucky in 1-1 draw with Germany; Mendy keeps clean sheet for Senegal

Tuesday’s Nations League slate saw England take on Germany in Munich, and get a lucky bounce towards to end to win a penalty and escape with a 1-1 draw. After a scoreless first half, Germany grabbed the lead early in the second, but a late penalty from Harry Kane rescued a point for the Three Lions.

There was some controversy about the penalty since it involved one of the more esoteric offside rules — the Germany defender “deliberately” played the ball, which meant that Kane being offside on the initial pass didn’t matter. The key to understanding this specific interpretation of FIFA law is that a “deliberate” play on the ball is not the same as a deliberate pass of the ball. The defender played the ball deliberately (he chose that specific action), which nullifies the offside even if said deliberate act turns into a pass to the other team.

Mason Mount started and played 72 minutes. Reece James did not feature. For Germany, Kai Havertz played the full-90 and Timo Werner got 25 minutes off the bench. Neither scored.

The point for England, their first of the competition, keeps them bottom of the group after the first two games. Italy, who beat Hungary yesterday, 2-1, lead.

Meanwhile, in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying action, Senegal made it two wins from two, with a hard fought 1-0 win over Rwanda, who gave away a penalty in the final seconds of the match. Sadio Mané made no mistake. Mendy had himself a nice nap in goal to collect his latest clean sheet.