In his penultimate game for his country, Ádám Szalai ended an eight-game international scoring drought to help Hungary earn just a second win over Germany since 1985. Marco Rossi’s men lead UEFA Nations League Group A3 by two points ahead of a winner-take-all clash with Italy in their next outing.A top of the table clash in Leipzig would prove decisive, with Hungary sensing the importance of the occasion. Germany’s threat was minimal from the outset, with Antonio Rüdiger’s long passing into the forwards their only attacking avenue, and that was proving ineffective. The Magyars took full advantage and took a deserved lead through a piece of brilliance from their captain. Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner to the near post was delightfully flicked on by Szalai, nestling inside the far post.Die Mannschaft were made to wait until the 39th minute for their maiden shot on target, as Thomas Müller’s header was comfortably denied by Péter Gulácsi. A desperately needed halftime tactical tweak from Hansi Flick brought the hosts back into the contest, with Leroy Sané finding space on the inside left, forcing the Hungary shot-stopper into his most strenuous piece of work of the night to deny him.Joshua Kimmich, who has directly contributed to a goal in three of his previous four internationals, was proving threatening, firing into the side-netting from range before a well-struck volley was crucially blocked. Hungary have the best defence in the group, conceding just three from their opening four games, and that stubborn rearguard was displaying why as they held the Germans at bay in the closing stages.The Magyars are just 90 minutes away from potential history, with a draw against Italy securing their place in the UNL semi-finals, which would be the first time they’ve reached the last four of an international competition in 50 years. Meanwhile, Germany are now out of contention, as they lost for the first time in 14 matches.🇭🇺 Hungary beat Germany for the first time since 2004 👏👏👏Next up? Italy on Monday for a place in the finals!#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/XbLWQ5KJ95— UEFA Nations League (@EURO2024) September 23, 2022 Elsewhere, Italy were lethal for the English – again! This time punching their ticket down to League B of the competition. A moment of inspiration from Giacomo Raspadori saw Italy beat England 1-0, which keeps Gli Azzurri unbeaten in the last six head-to-head encounters between the two sides.Nicolò Barella and Harry Kane were the only two starters to have previously scored in this UNL campaign while the reverse fixture had ended 0-0, so perhaps it is no surprise that there wasn’t an early flurry of goalmouth action. Gianluca Scamacca showed the most intent to score a quick opener, as the striker’s header was tipped onto the crossbar by Nick Pope before he struck wide with a speculative effort from range.Death. Taxes. Italy beating England. 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/Z2z0DjPI7D— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) September 23, 2022 Neither side were creating especially dangerous chances before halftime, and Bryan Cristante’s strike was blocked by Eric Dier before Kane hit a frustrated shot comfortably over the crossbar. There was a greater intensity as the teams emerged from the break, as Federico Dimarco came within inches of finding Francesco Acerbi in the box before Kane had a shot blocked by Leonardo Bonucci. The England captain endured more frustration soon after, as he was left bleeding following a clash of heads with Rafael Tolói and forced to wait before coming back on.The match finally received a burst of quality in the 68th minute, as Giacomo Raspadori controlled Bonucci’s ball behind the Three Lions defence, cut across Kyle Walker and curled a strike out of Nick Pope’s reach. Gianluigi Donnarumma hadn’t been tested much throughout the game, but produced an impressive double-stop to deny Kane with a quarter of an hour remaining. Jude Bellingham had been one of England’s better players on the night, but his horrible strike encapsulated the Three Lions’ misery.The scoreline could have been even worse as Dimarco hit the post late on, but the shorter margin will be no consolation as England were relegated to League B, with plenty of questions yet to be answered ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, Italy secured their place in UNL League A and will even be heading to the finals if they beat Hungary on Monday evening.UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE – GROUP STAGE, ROUND 5Division AThursday Croatia – Denmark 2-1 (0-0)/Sosa 49, Majer 79 – Eriksen 77/France – Austria 2-0 (0-0)/Mbappe 55, Giroud 64/Belgium – Wales 2-1 (2-0)/De Bruyne 11, Batshuayi 38 – Moore 50/Poland – Netherlands 0-2 (0-1)/Gakpo 14, Bergwijn 60/FridayGermany – Hungary 0-1 (0-1)/Szalai 17/Italy – England 1-0 (0-0)/Raspadori 68/©FlashScore
