England U21 vs Germany U21. Under-21 International.
Riverside StadiumAttendance30,178.
Tuesday 31 March 2015 09:36, UK
England U21s staged a thrilling late comeback to beat Germany 3-2 in their Under-21 friendly at the Riverside Stadium on Monday.
The teams went in level at half-time after Philipp Hofmann's opener was cancelled out by Jesse Lingard's strike.
Hoffman restored Germany's lead shortly after the break but Nathan Redmond equalised in the 79th minute and Southampton's James Ward-Prowse netted the winner two minutes later.
It was a fantastic finish to a captivating encounter in front of a crowd of 30,178 at Middlesbrough's home ground.
England U21 manager Gareth Southgate, back at the stadium at which he had played with such distinction before taking over the managerial reins from Steve McClaren, was looking for a stern test ahead of this summer's European Under-21 Championship finals in the Czech Republic, for which both sides have qualified.
He got just that as the visitors, with Liverpool's Emre Can and skipper Moritz Leitner orchestrating from the middle of the park, started confidently and forced their way in front with just 15 minutes gone.
Full-back Christian Gunter and midfielder Amin Younes combined well down the left - not for the first or last time - and when the ball reached Hofmann in the middle, he controlled and swivelled smartly to fire past helpless keeper Jonathan Bond.
But England improved as the half wore on and after Burnley striker Danny Ings had forced a fine 33rd-minute save from keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Lingard swept home Carl Jenkinson's cross to level just seconds later.
However, Germany restored their lead within five minutes of the restart when Hofmann slid in to meet half-time substitute Serge Gnabry's inviting cross and steer it past Bond.
Ings smashed a long-range effort over two minutes later and set up Lingard after running on to Jenkinson's 63rd-minute pass, but the midfielder could not get a shot away.
Arsenal's Gnabry was proving a real handful and he tested Bond with a skidding left-foot shot after running on to Can's intelligent pass 19 minutes from time, but the home side drew level with 10 minutes remaining when substitute Alex Pritchard fed Redmond and his shot flew past the keeper with the help of a slight deflection.
There was better to come for England when Ward-Prowse kept a cool head when presented with a chance to win it from 12 yards and made no mistake.
Ter Stegen also pulled off a remarkable double save at the death to deny England victory by a greater margin.