The game turned round, lady luck and the chance of reaching the last 16 in the Euros kept alive: Two own goals plus strikes from Kai Havertz and Robin Gosens ensured a 4-2 win for Germany on Saturday in their second Euro finals match against Portugal. That means Manuel Neuer and Co. take second place in the group ahead of Portugal and now qualification for the knockout rounds is in their own hands in the final game against Hungary on Wednesday (21.00 CEST).
Germany coach Joachim Löw fielded the same starting eleven against Portugal as he did in the opening match against France (0-1). That meant four Bayern players again started the match with captain Neuer alongside Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Müller. On 73 minutes, the Germany coach brought on Niklas Süle and Leon Goretzka, who made his comeback following a muscle injury. Leroy Sané made a brief appearance in the closing stages, Jamal Musiala was not in the matchday squad.
Kimmich's desire forces the opening goal
Germany started strongly and created numerous decent chances from the kick-off – and then unnecessarily conceded a goal on the break from their own corner through Cristiano Ronaldo (15'). Germany refused to give up and deservedly equalised 20 minutes later when Ruben Dias turned the ball into his own net. But there was more to come. Shortly after that, Kimmich (39') raced onto a Müller cross and whipped the ball into the middle for Portugal to concede a second own goal through Dortmund's Guerreiro.
After the restart, Germany maintained the pressure on the titleholders. Havertz (51') increased the lead to 3-1 when he converted a cross from Gosens before the left-back rounded off an impressive performance on the day with a goal to make it 4-1 on the hour mark. Kimmich was involved in the build-up with an impressive cross. Portugal pulled a goal back through Diogo Jota (67') but the match ended in a deserved win for Germany.
France drew with Hungary in their second group match in Budapest in the afternoon:
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