6/14/24

6/14/24
Group A
Germany 5 vs. Scotland 1

Five-star Germans in full Flo as Scotland swept aside

Danny Lewis, 3 min ago
Germany kicked off the UEFA European Championship 2024 in style with an emphatic 5-1 win against Scotland, becoming the third consecutive hosts to win their first match of the tournament.

The Tartan Army gleefully dominated the streets of Munich ahead of this tournament opener, but it quickly became apparent that their players faced a tough task in the Allianz Arena. Just 10 minutes in, Joshua Kimmich teed up Florian Wirtz for a first-time finish that went in off the post despite Angus Gunn getting a hand to it. The Germans cut through the Scots again nine minutes later, when İlkay Gündoğan slid through a beautiful ball for Kai Havertz, who laid the ball back for Jamal Musiala to smash it home.

Scotland simply couldn’t deal with Germany, but avoided further punishment when Ryan Christie’s foul on Musiala only conceded a free-kick rather than the penalty initially indicated by Clément Turpin, with Havertz’s deflected effort being held by Gunn. There was no saving Scotland from conceding a penalty before HT, though, as Gündoğan’s header was saved and Ryan Porteous put in a dangerous challenge on the Germany captain while trying to deny him a rebound. To make matters worse for Steve Clarke, the defender was shown a red card and Havertz coolly converted the ensuing spot-kick for the third goal in his last four matches for club and country.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side remained in complete control after the restart, hunting for more goals as Antonio Rüdiger saw his ambitious strike from range tipped wide by Gunn. Musiala danced around Anthony Ralston, although his work culminated in Wirtz firing over from Maximilian Mittelstädt’s cross, and Gunn getting a foot to his fizzed ball before Callum McGregor blocked Gündoğan’s strike as the hour mark approached. The seemingly inevitable fourth would finally arrive, as just five minutes after coming off the bench, Niclas Füllkrug capitalised from more Musiala magic and a slice of fortune by rifling his strike into the top corner.

Füllkrug was denied a second by the offside flag, and there was a consolation for Scotland when Scott McKenna’s header went in off Rüdiger. Germany still had the last say with Emre Can curling a lovely strike out of Gunn’s reach, as they emphatically ended a run of losing their first match of the previous three major tournaments, as well as going a fifth consecutive game unbeaten. In contrast, Scotland’s only win in their last 10 matches came against Gibraltar, leaving them with an uphill task to progress from the group stages of a major tournament for the first time ever.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Jamal Musiala