Yahoo Finance France 1-0 Germany: Mats Hummels own goal decides Euros Group F heavyweight opener
An own goal from Mats Hummels was enough for France to seal a tight win over Germany in their opening game of Euro 2020 in Munich.
Hummels could not rearrange his feet as he turned a Lucas Hernandez cross past Manuel Neuer 20 minutes into the Group F clash.
Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema had goals ruled out for offside after the break, but it mattered little in the end as world champions France took three precious points at the Allianz Arena.
With Portugal beating Hungary 3-0 earlier on in the other Group F game, that leaves the French and Portuguese sitting pretty in the ‘group of death’ as the Hungarians and Germans now face a tough task to qualify for the knockout stages.
In one of the most eagerly anticipated group games of the tournament, there were surreal scenes before kick-off as a Greenpeace protestor parachuted into the stadium moments before the match was due to start.
The protestor glided into the stadium and seemed to lose control after connecting with wires attached to the roof for TV cameras, struggling to avoid crashing into spectators but managing to land on the the field, where Germany players Antonio Rudiger and Robin Gosens were the first to approach him.
He was then led away by security stewards and given medical attention on the side of the field. The parachute had the words “Kick out oil Greenpeace” written on it.
Following that distraction, attentions turned back towards the game - and France enjoyed the better of the ball in the opening stages.
In his final tournament as Germany manager, Joachim Low deployed his side in a 3-4-3 - though France looked more comfortable in a 4-3-3.
Paul Pogba stretched Germany’s back line 20 minutes in as he found Hernandez with a ball over the top on the left; the full-back volleyed back across goal, and Hummels could only clumsily turn the ball past Manuel Neuer.
Germany grew into the game with Thomas Muller and Serge Gnabry seeing half-chances flash wide, but France went into the interval a goal up - and they were perhaps unlucky not to go in a man up as well as Antonio Rudiger and Pogba were involved in a bizarre confrontation during which the German defender appeared to bite the midfielder on the shoulder.
Low’s men came out swinging and put the French defence under pressure, with Gnabry wasting a presentable chance by firing over from a cross when unmarked.
Mbappe thought he had added a brilliant second after twisting and turning in from the left flank to finish across Neuer, but a delayed offside flag denied him a tremendous goal.
The France star then made Hummels look all of his 32 years as Mbappe easily made up 20 yards in one of the most one-sided footraces in football history, only for the centre-back to make a brilliantly desperate last-ditch sliding challenge inside his own box.
Still, the nature of the players’ battle spoke to the fact that as Germany face a rebuild with World Cup legends like Hummels set to bow out soon, Mbappe and France are very much the team of here and now.
Low sent on Tino Werner and Leoy Sane late on to try and find an equaliser, but France went closest to the next goal as Benzema’s close-range finish was ruled out by VAR for another Mbappe offside.
The result leaves Germany facing a must-win game against Portugal on Saturday, while France would all but confirm a spot in the last 16 if they beat Hungary at the weekend.
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