England 2-2 Germany

UEFA European U21 Championship, Qualifying Group 6
25 March 2005
KC Stadium, Hull City FC

Substitute Roberto Hilbert struck an 88th minute equaliser to keep England and Germany level on points and neck-and-neck at the top of Group Six.

Hilbert latched onto goalkeeper Scott Carson’s deflected clearance to fire the ball into an empty net from 25 yards in the dying seconds. The goal was harsh on the hosts, who thought they had secured the points thanks to a stunning goal from Dean Ashton.

The Norwich forward fired home after 52 minutes, just seconds after Ipswich star Darren Bent had equalised Stefan Kiessling’s 48th minute opener for Germany.

After a cagey start to the match Bent forced the first save of the contest as he forced Michael Rensing to scramble across his goal to gather a dangerous cross-shot.

Germany created a decent opportunity when Mike Hanke headed wide, but England came close when Ashton latched on to James Milner’s clever pass and forced Rensing into a fine save to keep out his 20-yard drive.

Liverpool goalkeeper Carson had to be alert to claw away a curling free-kick from Christian Pander, but England started to carve out several chances at the other end in the latter stages of the first half.

Bent and Kieran Richardson created a decent opening for Ashton, who fired over with a left-footed shot from 10 yards, and then Tom Huddlestone drilled a stinging effort just wide of the mark from 30 yards.

Moments before the interval, Carson produced a superb save to parry Kiessling’s left-footed volley, and Sahr Senesie clipped the crossbar with the rebound from 20 yards.

Germany nearly broke the deadlock in the opening seconds of the second half, but Senesie blazed over from 10 yards after a slip by Glen Johnson.

However the visitors did not have long to wait for the opener, and when Pander exchanged passes with Matthias Lehmann, Kiessling ran on to fire an unstoppable drive into the top-left corner of the net from eight yards. England’s riposte was immediate though, as they equalised just 72 seconds later.

Johnson delivered a cross from the right, and Bent took advantage of a slip by Moritz Volz to nod the ball into the bottom-right corner for his third goal for England Under-21s at the KC Stadium.

Seconds later the hosts struck a second goal to stun Germany.

Milner found Ashton on the left edge of the penalty area with a low pass, and the Norwich hitman cut inside to thump a magnificent right-footed shot into the top-right corner of the net.

The home side started to pepper the visiting goal, and Bent and Richardson both forced Rensing to produce his best, but England were stung by Hilbert’s late strike.

England picked up a couple of injury worries in the clash, as Gary O’Neil left the field on a stretcher in the final minute after Johnson had earlier hobbled off the pitch.

England Under-21s: Scott Carson, Glen Johnson, Liam Ridgewell (John Welsh 46), Nicky Hunt, Calum Davenport, Tom Huddlestone, James Milner, Gary O’Neil (Steven Taylor 90), Darren Bent, Dean Ashton, Kieran Richardson (Liam Rosenior 79).
Subs not used: Lee Camp, Peter Whittingham, Jon Stead, Darren Ambrose.

Goals: Bent 50, Ashton 52

Germany Under-21s: Rensing, Volz, Pander, Sinkiewicz, Matip, Lehmann, Kiessling (Hilbert 79), Fathi (Brzenska 85), Hanke, Senesie (Ludwig 66), Jansen.
Subs not used: Walke, Callsen-Bracker, Hampel, Masmanidis.

Goals: Kiessling 48, Hilbert 88

Attendance: 21,746