Germany produced their best performance in a long time and were helped by two own goals to come from behind and crush title holders Portugal 4-2 at Euro 2020 on Saturday.
Joachim Loew's Germany are now second in Group F with the same three points as Portugal but ahead on their head-to-head record as they bounced back from an opening 1-0 defeat to France.
Portugal took the lead, after the Germans had an early goal ruled out for offside, in a brilliant counter-attack that ended up with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 107th international goal. He is now two away from Iranian Ali Daei's all-time record of 109.
But Germany picked up the pieces and were ahead before the break after own goals by Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro. Kai Havertz scored six minutes into the second half before Robin Gosens crowned his superb performance with a goal of his own.
Diego Jota hit the net a second time for Portugal but his effort was not enough to lead a reaction from his team.
France, who played out a 1-1 draw with Hungary earlier on Saturday, lead the group with four points. Germany close the group stage against Hungary on Wednesday, when Portugal play France.
"It was a great performance overall. Great attitude. There was a lot of tempo from the start. I expected us to improve the things we didn't do so well against France," Loew said.
Germany got off to a good start and almost secured an early advantage but Gosens' flying finish was ruled out for an earlier offside.
The hosts kept pressing but the Portuguese went ahead against the run of play and broke Germany's momentum.
A superb long pass from Bernardo Silva powered Diogo Jota into the area. He slipped the ball across for Ronaldo, who just had to tap into an empty net.
The Portuguese superstar got closer to Daei's record and is also now level with Miroslav Klose on 19 goals across World Cups and Euros.
Portugal had a few minutes in control but Germany quickly picked up the pace again. And the effort was worth it as they were level in the 35th minute.
Gosens volleyed across the area and Havertz was initially credited with the goal, but Portugal defender Dias got the last touch.
Just four minutes later another own goal, this time with Guerreiro turning in a Joshua Kimmich cross, put the Germans ahead before the break.
Havertz then got his goal early in the second half from Gosens' cross to keep on building Germany's advantage. Gosens added a goal to his two assists and concluded his outstanding performance.
"It feels unreal. You can't ask for more than that. I think that's what the coach played me for, to bring in my offensive power," said Gosens, who was chosen as Man of the Match.
Diego Jota's goal and Renato Sanches' strike off the post didn't inspire a comeback as Portugal conceded four goals in a game for the first time since their 4-0 group stage defeat to Germany at the 2014 World Cup.
"It was a fair win for Germany. I want to move on," Portugal coach Fernando Santos told broadcaster TVI24. "If we beat France, we make it. We'll see. Let's take it easy and see how we play."
Source: DPA
