5 hours ago
15
Key events
77 min: More big chances! Sane chunks a shot into Galindez’s arms from 12 yards. Then up the other end, Rodriguez spins and shoots, Stiller blocking the effort out for a corner, from which …
76 min: I’d missed Beier coming on for Nmecha. Apologies. Fortunately for Ecuador, Pacho doesn’t miss him as Raum crosses dangerously from the left. He eases his man out of the way, six yards out, and a big chance goes by for Germany.
74 min: Wirtz is replaced by Gross.
72 min: Estupinan replaces Hincapie. And when play resumes, Tah and Neuer get in each other’s way while the keeper attempts to claim a ball sent down the middle. Rodriguez nips off with the ball, but he’s been forced well wide left. He cuts back, and a cross finds Plata in the middle. Plata aims for the top right but hooks over. Germany get away with a huge one. Tah and Neuer engage enthusiastically in Hegelian dialectic.
70 min: A hydration break, and is it possible to drink humble pie? Because there are other clubs to consider in the current World Cup scoring chart. “Sarr, Kamada and Munoz have each scored two. That makes six for Palace,” writes Timothy O’Keeffe, while Owen Linderholm adds: “ … and duh. Real Madrid on at least eight. Man City on four. Etc.”
68 min: Wirtz juggles the ball to make space in the centre circle, then one-twos with Undav down the inside-left channel. He gives the ball to Undav a second time, before the in-form sub is swarmed. Nice move, though.
67 min: Nothing comes of the free kick. Ecuador recycle possession, and Rodriguez crosses from the right. Easy for Neuer. “I am Scottish, and I thank Sarah Rothwell for her concern, but urge her to find something else to occupy her time,” writes Simon McMahon. “Drinking, perhaps. Or crocheting football shirts for cats. You can thank me for it later, Sarah, once it’s confirmed that Scotland have missed out on qualification for the last 32 by a single goal.”
66 min: Thiaw clips Angulo out on the left flank. A free kick coming up in a dangerous position. Meanwhile, on that half-time PSG/Sunderland six/four goals stat reported by Mac Millings … “Messi and thus Inter Miami on five goals, surely?” questions Owen Linderholm, who already knows the answer is yes. Oh Mac! Oh me! Oh us!
65 min: Ecuador respond to Germany’s double change with one of their own, removing Franco and Valencia, and sending on Rodriguez and Preciado.
63 min: Wirtz shoots from the left-hand edge of the D. Blocked. Raum picks up the rebound on the left and loops a cross into the mixer. Galindez claims under pressure from Undav.
62 min: Yeboah has been busy since the restart, and he cuts back from the right for Valencia, who takes a dig from distance. Neuer parries well, but that’s got the crowd going all right.
60 min: Germany do indeed send on Undav. He replaces Havertz, while Kimmich makes way for Thiaw. Kimmich hands the captain’s armband over to Rudiger.
58 min: Havertz competes for a long ball down the middle, but doesn’t win it. Apart from the non-penalty incident, Germany have achieved absolutely nothing in attack since the restart. Undav Time?
56 min: Julian Nagelsmann engages the fourth official in a heated debate over goodness knows what. An act that registers eight out of ten on our patented Displacement-o-meter™. His side aren’t playing particularly well.
54 min: Yeboah twists and turns again, this time entering the Germany box on the right to win a corner. The set piece is sent long, and Caicedo heads harmlessly wide left from a tight angle at the far stick. But Ecuador are beginning to look lively again.
52 min: Yeboah spins elegantly into space in the middle of the park, setting Ecuador away on the counter. He feeds the ball to Valencia … who inexplicably stops on the halfway line, pondering. That jiggers the momentum, and the 55,000 Ecuador fans in the stadium holler their displeasure with their own man.
50 min: Franco is booked for kicking a dead ball onto the pitch as Musiala was taking a quick throw. This second half so far has been mainly admin.
VAR: No penalty!
48 min: There was contact. Not much, but enough. The referee announces the reversal and on we go.
47 min: … but VAR ushers the referee over to the screen. Did Sane clip Vite on the halfway line earlier in the move?
Penalty for Germany!
45 min 30 sec: Nmecha plays the ball down the middle for Havertz. Ordonez bundles into him from the back. So clumsy. The referee points immediately to the spot.
Ecuador get the second half underway. Pavlovic, on a booking, has been replaced by Stiller.
“I currently seem to be viewing every match through a filter of ‘but what does it mean for Scotland’, and I think it’s melting my brain,” writes Sarah Rothwell. “I’m not even Scottish.” For the record, as things stand, Ecuador will finish as the third-placed team in Group E on two points, which is good news for the Scots.
Half-time postbag. “The New York/New Jersey pitch looks noticeably rougher than any other in the tournament, and naturally it’s where the final will be played. Not quite Estadio Azteca 1986 bobbliness levels, but trending that direction as the tournament wears on. What are the odds of the final in four weeks’ time being decided by a defender attempting a clearance and getting a slapstick swing-and-a-miss?” – Chris Burke
“The common denominator with the goals scored against Germany at this World Cup seems to be Kimmich stuck in a defensive no-man’s land, caught between stepping up on the ball or dropping. He often seems to be marking either a zone with no players or with two. Nagelsmann needs to find a more effective way to use him” – Jonas Burkhard
“On the US English-language coverage, Ian Darke said something interesting (I know!) in that apparently the club whose players have scored the most goals is PSG with six, but second are Sunderland with four. Sunderland!” – Mac Millings
“Writing to you from Queretaro, Mexico where we’re still basking in yesterday’s fine victory and recovering from tequila fuelled partying just as the clichés would have it. I understand that Fifa has a system of dark kit vs light kit for each game which is why Germany aren’t using their preferred white home kit, but don’t their shorts clash rather strongly with the referee’s shirt? Any ideas how the refs are assigned their colours? Surely a red or pink colour would have worked much better. ¡Hasta la victoria siempre!” – Alex
“Are those buses parked?” – David Marriott
Half-time reading. You want world-class World Cup content? We got world-class World Cup content!
HALF TIME: Ecuador 1-1 Germany
Ecuador responded valiantly to going behind early, and their hope of making it through to the knockouts with a win hasn’t been extinguished yet. Should make for another fun half of football!
45 min +4: Wirtz tries to dribble his way through a cluster of three defenders inside the Ecuador box, the outcome predictable.
45 min +2: This half is petering out a bit. It’s been entertaining stuff on the whole, though. And to be fair, it is hot.
45 min: There will be four additional first-half minutes.
44 min: … and now the second yellow card of the game comes along in short order, Pavolvic tugging back the in-flight Valencia.
43 min: Hincapie is booked for a combination of tugging back Sane and then shaping to get up in the referee’s grille.
41 min: Musiala sashays into the Ecuador box from the left and looks for Havertz in the middle with a low curler. Ordonez comes across to whip clear.
39 min: … although the result is increasingly scrappy fare. You pays your money, etc.
37 min: Both teams take it up a notch. Some hard but fair tackles flying in. All good old-fashioned fun.
35 min: Musiala enters the Ecuador box from the left and shoots. Blocked by Franco for a corner. Wirtz sends it in, but the ball bounces behind everyone and Valencia clear their lines. It’s been a proper mixed bag from Wirtz, who had a huge role in the opener, but whose radar has been skew-whiff ever since.
34 min: Now Kimmich and Pavlovic confuse each other in midfield, allowing Caicedo to romp off with the ball. Once again Ecuador make a balls of the break, and Germany get away with this. Germany can’t keep doing this, though, if they’ve any hope of winning this thing. Imagine this sort of carry-on against France. It’d be carnage.
32 min: Wirtz plays a blind reverse pass back down the German left, and it’s picked off by Angulo, who barrels towards the Germany box. He lays off to Valencia, whose poor shot is blocked by Tah and cleared. That was an awful ball by Wirtz, who put his team in trouble; Germany were light at the back and lucky Angulo and Valencia made a mess of the counter.
30 min: The end of the hydration break (which incidentally continues, pleasingly, to be given the bird by all members of the crowd).
28 min: … and here it is. Drinks! Krombacher pils or Maaza soursop guanabana juice? The choice is yours.
27 min: Ecuador pass and probe, without too much forward energy. Perhaps they’re waiting for the hydration break.
