Joachim Low was full of praise for Robin Gosens' swashbuckling performance as Germany beat reigning champions Portugal 4-2 in Euro 2020 Group F on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo had put Portugal ahead early on with a strike that took him level with Miroslav Klose as the European player to have scored the most combined goals (19) across the World Cup and European Championship.
Low's side stormed back before half-time, however, courtesy of two own goals in the space of four minutes from Ruben Dias – forced by a Gosens cross – and Raphael Guerreiro.
Gosens, who had earlier seen an effort ruled out for offside, then teed up Kai Havertz for a third shortly after the interval before eventually getting in on the act himself, heading home Joshua Kimmich's cross at the back post.
Diogo Jota pulled one back for Fernando Santos' men, but a late comeback failed to materialise as Germany sealed their first win of the tournament in style.
Low marked Gosens out for special praise in his post-match media conference and hopes there is plenty more to come from the 26-year-old.
"I don't know if it was the game of a lifetime for him, maybe he still has to play that," Low said.
"But it was an amazing performance from him. He worked very hard and on top of that he was a constant threat up front as well.
"That is exactly what we needed today."
Germany's first win of the tournament helped them move up to second in Group F, one point behind leaders France.
A draw in their final group game against Hungary on Wednesday should be enough to see them progress to the knockout stages, but Low did not think the victory was a sign of how far Germany can progress in the competition.
"It doesn't have anything to do with initiating something," he said. "It gives you some satisfaction but we never had any doubts after losing to the world champions, we knew we could do better.
"At a tournament you know how it goes, step by step. The next step will be Hungary, which will be hard as they park the bus in defence.
"Overall it was a strong performance against a technically good Portuguese team who were strong on the counter-attack.
"Especially after going behind we showed a great team spirit, we didn't lose control, we were dynamic and energetic and created a lot of opportunities.
"We managed to be a threat to the defence and overall this victory is well deserved."
Portugal, meanwhile, became the first reigning champions in European Championship history to concede four goals in a single match in the competition.
Boss Santos accepted full responsibility for the result and said it is up to him to turn things around for the final group game against France on Wednesday.
"Whether we progress or not is up to us and we have to respond to this," he said.
"The manager is to blame for the result. If we look at individual players it would be shooting ourselves in the foot. Now I have to talk to the players and understand why we couldn't do what we planned to do.
"I am responsible for this, I don't want to mention players by name as we need to solve this as a team and think about France.
"France play differently and we need to change the things we did which were not that good."
Coventry City 2-3 Hull City: Tigers win five-goal thriller to keep play-off hopes alive
Hull City kept their hopes of gatecrashing the Championship play-offs alive with a thrilling 3-2 win over beaten FA Cup semi-finalists Coventry City on Wednesday.
Noah Ohio scored the winner with his first touch after coming on as a second-half substitute as Hull moved within three points of sixth-placed Norwich City with two games to play.
Coventry, meanwhile, saw their own hopes of returning to Wembley Stadium for a second successive play-off final all but ended, as they sit six points further back with three matches remaining.
Three days on from their remarkable comeback against Manchester United, the Sky Blues twice fought back to level things at Coventry Building Society Arena. Jaden Philogene's shot squirmed under goalkeeper Bradley Collins to put Hull ahead 31 minutes in, but Kasey Palmer levelled within five minutes with a stunning free-kick.
Hull went back ahead in controversial circumstances on the stroke of half-time, Liverpool loanee Fabio Carvalho converting from the penalty spot despite replays showing Joel Latibeaudiere's foul on Liam Delap took place outside the area.
Mark Robins' men again dragged themselves back into the game as Bobby Thomas headed Jay Dasilva's cross in just before the hour mark, but it was Liam Rosenior's visitors who found a winner.
Thomas went from hero to villain as his poor back pass sold Collins short, and Ohio got a toe to the ball to score the winner, keeping Hull's hopes of Premier League football intact.
Van Dijk: Liverpool have 'no chance' in title race after derby defeat
Virgil van Dijk conceded Liverpool might be out of the Premier League title race after they suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat to Everton in Wednesday's Merseyside derby.
Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in either half to give the Toffees their first win over Liverpool at Goodison Park since 2010.
Liverpool struggled to find a way through the Toffees' defence despite dominating for long periods, and the Reds' captain says they will not outlast Arsenal and Manchester City without major improvements.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Van Dijk said: "If we play like today, then we have no chance to consider ourselves in the title race.
"We have to just focus on the next game and that will be a tough one anyway, so we will see.
"We're very disappointed, in so many ways. I think everyone has to look at their own performances. Did they really give everything, and do they really want to win the league?
"We're still fighting and there are still games after tonight, but if we play like we did overall in the game today – not winning challenges and giving the referee a chance to give free-kicks like he did many times, then you have no chance to win the title."
Howe: Newcastle performance in Palace defeat 'way off' Spurs win
Eddie Howe admitted Newcastle United's performance in the 2-0 loss at Crystal Palace on Wednesday was "way off" the one that saw them thump Tottenham in their previous game.
Howe's men hammered Spurs 4-0 in their last match, but they never got close to matching the attacking verve from that outing and a Jean-Philippe Mateta double condemned the Magpies to defeat at Selhurst Park.
Newcastle didn't even manage a shot on target until the 87th minute, accumulating just 0.42 xG (expected goals) as the likes of Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon struggled to make an impact.
Only against Manchester City in August (one) have Newcastle recorded fewer shots on target in a Premier League game this season than their two against Palace, and Howe was critical of his team's display in the loss, one that all but ends their hopes of finishing in the top four.
"[It is a] bad day for us," Howe told Newcastle's club media.
"I thought we were disappointing today, especially in the first 60 minutes. We were way off our levels against Tottenham and our best levels.
"I thought technically we didn't deliver a good performance, and out of possession I don't think it was a particularly good performance either."
Newcastle were unlocked twice for Mateta to score by a Palace side who themselves only generated 0.88 xG.
Howe was left frustrated by the manner in which his side conceded, adding: "I think we'll be disappointed with our performance technically today, and that's probably epitomised by the two goals where we're disappointed with how we've given them the ball in those situations and then how we defended.
"I think the goals sum up aspects of our performance where there was some good, lots of moments that could have led to opportunities, but we were slow to shoot around the box," he said.
The defeat, combined with Manchester United's 4-2 win over Sheffield United, means Newcastle drop to seventh, while eighth-placed West Ham are two points behind with a game in hand.
Newcastle have now lost eight of their last 11 Premier League away games, while they have lost on four occasions in London in the league this term, only doing so more times in a Premier League season in 2000-01 and 2005-06 (both five).
It's been a disappointing season for Howe and his side, especially compared to the heroics of last term when Newcastle finished in the top four, and the Magpies boss knows there's work to be done to get back to those levels.
"It's a day that we have to take our punishment, deal with it, and then try and improve," Howe continued. "It's frustrating because we know we're capable of much better."
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