The Daily Bee: Mats Hummels Own Goal Pushes France Past Germany

Good morning, Fear the Wall!

Arguably the biggest match of EURO 2020 took place yesterday between France and Germany, two countries that could arguably be considered favorites to win the whole tournament. In the end it was France that won the day, with a 1-0 victory whose scoreline arguably flatters Germany. The Germans only mustered a single shot on target in a game that they trailed in for 70 minutes.

This game, among other things, demonstrated the extreme highs and lows of BVB defender Mats Hummels. His performance was scarred by a fairly unfortunate own goal in the 20th minute, in which he inadvertently deflected a cross into his own net. It’s hard to really blame him for it, as he had Kylian Mbappé lurking behind him, who would’ve had a sure tap-in. His other big moment was an insane recovery tackle against Kylian Mbappé. After the youngster absolutely dusted Hummels chasing after a loose ball and was in one-on-one against Neuer, Hummels re-emerged out of nowhere to slide between Mbappé’s legs and knick the ball away.

Overall, the Germans were very anemic midfield, and while France’s shot totals don’t jump off the scoresheet, in truth they could’ve easily had a few more goals if it hadn’t been for a pair of very close offside decisions, or Mats Hummels’ last minute tackle against Mbappé. I thought Kai Havertz and Thomas Müller had unusually lackluster performances, and had trouble obtaining any kind of open space in the attacking third.

The Daily Buzz

Should Germany be concerned about their ability to score following yesterday’s game?