Euro 2020: England 2 Germany 0

Admittedly, England have not won anything yet, and as he attempts to dampen down expectations that will now run sky-high, Gareth Southgate will stress that beating Germany will count for very little if his side do not go on and win the European Championships. For one day only, though, let’s forget about the future. Moments like this are few and far between as an England fan, and as the players embarked on a lap of honour in front of more than 40,000 ecstatic supporters at the final whistle, it felt like a key point in sporting history. England have beaten Germany. In a game that really mattered.

There were so many individual success stories, from Raheem Sterling, who continued his impressive scoring spree with his third goal of the tournament to break the deadlock in the 75th minute, to Harry Kane, who answered his critics by heading home England’s second with four minutes left, through to each and every member of the defence, who shackled Germany from first minute to last to ensure England remain the only team at the Euros who are yet to concede a goal.

Perhaps the biggest personal victory was Southgate’s though, with his team selection and tactics being thoroughly vindicated as his side progressed to a weekend quarter-final in Rome. By switching to a back five to mirror Germany’s system, and also playing with two holding midfielders, Southgate was playing into the hands of his critics who claim his innate conservatism is holding England back. Well, if constraining England’s attacking ambitions means a place in the last eight, let’s have more of it.

Southgate’s approach worked perfectly, with England’s smothering defensive formation shutting down a German side that had ripped Portugal apart as they scored six goals in two matches in the group stage. Jordan Pickford made a crucial save at the start of the second half, tipping Kai Havertz’s goal-bound strike over the crossbar, and Thomas Muller missed a golden chance with the score at 1-0 when a rare mistake from Sterling played England into trouble.

On the whole though, England controlled the game in a most un-England like fashion. Whisper it, but they out-Germanyed Germany when it came to dictating possession and remaining in a rigid defensive shape.

For almost 70 minutes, the home side were content to keep things at arm’s length, but to Southgate’s credit, his 69th-minute introduction of Jack Grealish changed things. With Grealish running at the German defence from the left, England found another attacking gear. It was hardly coincidental that Grealish had a major hand in both of his side’s late goals.

The Aston Villa midfielder helped Luke Shaw set up Sterling’s goal and crossed for Kane’s headed second. In the space of one-and-a-half tournament matches, he has claimed two assists.

There will be an inevitable clamour for him to start in Rome on Saturday night, but Southgate will rightly claim that he was only able to change things so dramatically because of the strength of the foundations that had been established before he came on to the field.

For all that Germany dominated the early possession, it was the 32nd minute before Pickford was forced to make a save, although when it came it was a good one, with the Wearsider rushing out from his line to block Timo Werner’s effort after the Chelsea striker had galloped into the left-hand side of the area to reach Havertz’s through ball.

The fact that Germany’s goalscoring threat was so limited was testament to the quality of England’s defensive work, with the hosts’ five-man backline denying Werner space and smothering Havertz and Toni Kroos whenever they attempted to break forward from midfield.

With Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips providing a two-man defensive screen in front of the English defence, the solidity Southgate’s side had displayed in all three of their group matches was evident again.

The challenge was always going to be offering an attacking threat while remaining defensively resolute, and while England were never able to commit large numbers of players upfield, they offered just enough to suggest they were capable of penetrating the German defence if things fell their way.

Their best first-half chance came just after the quarter-hour mark, with Sterling receiving the ball from Rice and twisting onto his right foot before firing in a shot that Manuel Neuer clawed around the post to his left. Sterling’s place in the starting line-up had been called into question prior to the start of the tournament, but with his two goals in the group stage, the Manchester City man has consistently been his side’s main threat.

With Bukayo Saka, who retained his place against impressing against the Czech Republic, drifting in dangerously from the right, there was a fluidity to England’s attacking that caused Germany’s back three sporadic problems. The issue, as it had been in all three of the group matches, was Kane’s lack of effectiveness, with the England skipper once again looking laboured and out-of-sorts for long periods.

A moment on the stroke of half-time summed up much of Kane’s performance, with the ball seemingly breaking kindly for the Premier League’s leading scorer after Sterling had been tackled in the box, only for him to fail to get a proper shot away.

At the other end of the pitch, Pickford has been in superb form, and England’s goalkeeper produced his best save of the tournament three minutes after the break to keep the scores level. Robin Gosens’ cross reached Havertz on the edge of the area, but while the Chelsea midfielder’s shot looked to be flying in, Pickford acrobatically tipped the ball over the crossbar.

That ensured the scores remained level, and as the second half progressed, so the nervousness increased and both sides became increasingly reluctant to try anything too risky. The Wembley crowd were chanting for the introduction of Grealish throughout the second period, and their calls were eventually answered 21 minutes from time. It did not take long for the change to work.

Six minutes after coming on to the field, Grealish had a hand in the move that sent Wembley delirious. Receiving a square pass from Kane, Grealish spread the play to Shaw on the left-hand side. The full-back slid a low centre across the face of the six-yard box, and an onrushing Sterling stabbed home a first-time finish to claim his third goal of the tournament.

Muller’s miss was a bad one, with the veteran forward breaking clear before sliding a low shot wide of the post, and it meant Kane was able to settle things with four minutes left. Grealish stood up a cross from the left after Shaw slid the ball into his path, and Kane powered home a header to finally get up and running in the scoring stakes.