Why Harry Kane Was Onside For England's Penalty Against Germany Explained

Harry Kane came to England's rescue on Tuesday night, as they drew 1-1 with Germany, but his winning of the all important penalty was extremely controversial.

Gareth Southgate's side looked on the verge of back-to-back defeats in the Nations League on Tuesday, with the possibility of relegation from League A becoming a real possibility.

Having lost to Hungary at the weekend, Jonas Hoffman's goal for Germany looked to be enough to earn them revenge from their elimination by their historic rivals at last summer's Euros.

However, with time ticking away, Kane won a penalty in the 88th minute when he was brought down by Nico Schlotterbeck in the box.

It was a contentious decision as many felt the striker went down easily, and the referee initially waved away the protests before checking the screen following instructions from the VAR official.

Fans were actually left baffled by the decision due to the forward being in an offside position when the initial pass went to him, but ESPN FC editor, and VAR aficionado, Dale Johnson has explained why Kane wasn't actually offside.

Harry Kane was in an offside position when the first pass was played, but the ball was then deliberately played by a Germany defender.

Thus there can be no offside against Kane as the phase is reset. #GERENG pic.twitter.com/A6i7zAv960

— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) June 7, 2022

For those saying "what about Fabinho in the Champions League final?", as I explained at the time key factors include:

- distance the ball travelled to the defender
- which enables him to have options

The ball hitting a defender from point-blank range isn't a deliberate play. pic.twitter.com/Pm3InPlMF8

— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) June 7, 2022

And to cover further repeat comments.

"Deliberate play" means just to deliberately play the ball. Wherever it ends up.

It doesn't mean "deliberate play" the ball to Harry Kane.

— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) June 7, 2022

The difference in the UCL final is the distance the ball has travelled to the defender, the options he has at the point Valverde touches the ball and the consequence of contact not being within his control. https://t.co/s50Zjvhs1a

— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) June 7, 2022

However in this case the pass wasn't to played to the player in an offside position. It was played to a different opposition player who was onside but ended up at the other. Even greyer area. https://t.co/ZFSTqSSNfx

— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) June 7, 2022

If you have Twitter then Johnson is certainly worth following for his weekly explanations of why certain decisions are or aren't given, during the season.

He certainly knows the rules better than most of us.

Of course many people pointed out the similarities in Tuesday night's decision to the one just 10 days before in the Champions League final.

In that incident Karim Benzema was ruled to be offside, after Fabinho's challenge went to the Real Madrid striker. Ironically at the time there was outrage that people disagreed with that decision but now they're annoyed that Kane wasn't...

Having won the controversial penalty, the Three Lions' captain then stepped up and dispatched it past Manuel Neuer to bring up his 50th international goal.

He is now just three behind Wayne Rooney's record, and Southgate's side still have games against Italy and Hungary to come in the next week.

Despite his goal, it was a forward who could have been playing alongside Kane that was earning all the plaudits after the game.

Germany's Jamal Musiala gave a stunning performance, the 19-year-old represented England at every age group from under 15s to under 21s, before switching allegiance in February 2021 to play for the team of his birth.