More Musiala magic sees Germany beat Hungary 2-0 and reach Euro 2024 knockout stage

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Jamal Musiala is lighting up the European Championship and showing just why his teammates think the 21-year-old forward can go on to become one of the best players in the world.

Musiala scored his second goal of the tournament on Wednesday to help Germany beat Hungary 2-0 and book its spot in the knockout stage.

“For me it’s incredible to play with him, he can do the unexpected in every single situation,” Germany captain İlkay Gündoğan said. "Maybe he’s the most important one at the moment for us and at such a young age as well.

“And, I love him. He’s such a complete player and such a nice guy as well. Very humble. And if he keeps doing his thing, the way he’s doing right now, he can be one of the best.”

Musiala opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a goal that was furiously protested by Hungary. Gündoğan had set that up and got on the scoresheet himself in the second half.

Musiala had netted Germany’s second goal in the 5-1 opening victory over Scotland on Friday to kick off Euro 2024. Hungary lost 3-1 to Switzerland on Saturday and now faces an uphill challenge to advance.

“He did brilliant in both games,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said. "Not only the two goals, I think every situation or offensive proposition is pretty tough for the opponent to defend.

“I think it’s important for him not to deal with the pressure, just to deal with his capability to solve any offensive one-on-one situations ... He should not think about the pressure, because he’s brilliant in just playing soccer.”

Hungary plays Scotland in the final Group A match on Sunday, when Nagelsmann's team takes on Switzerland.

Germany is definitely into the next round at least as a best third-place team. It will be confirmed in the top two if Scotland fails to beat Switzerland later Wednesday.

Hungary was unbeaten in its previous three matches against Germany and it put up a good fight against the host nation in Stuttgart.

Coach Marco Rossi said his players paid the price for what he felt was unbalanced refereeing.

“Throughout my career, first as player and then as coach, I have never looked for alibis,” Rossi said. “But what the referee did tonight … I think even the Germans saw that he used two different measurements.

“Germany would have still won, it’s stronger and it would have won, but the referee was the worst on the field.”

Rossi’s side started aggressively and stunned Germany by almost taking the lead inside 20 seconds. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had to be quick off his line to slide to the ball to stop Roland Sallai.

The noise level ramped up every time Musiala had the ball and the Stuttgart-born forward opened the scoring in chaotic fashion.

Musiala tried to set up Gündoğan but Hungary defender Willi Orbán got to the ball first. However, he stumbled — following what Hungary protested was a shove by Gündoğan — and as shotstopper Péter Gulácsi tried to help him, Gündoğan poked it on to Musiala, who smashed it into the net with the goalkeeper still on the ground.

“I was quite surprised that the Hungarian player and his teammates were angry about it,” Gündoğan said. “I played in the Premier League for seven years and if you gave that in the Premier League as a foul I think everyone would have been laughing on the floor.”

Hungary almost leveled immediately but Neuer did brilliantly to parry Dominik Szoboszlai’s free kick and then keep out a follow-up with his foot. The crowd celebrated the save almost as loudly as it had done the goal.

The loud home fans thought Musiala had doubled his tally at the end of the half but his shot was deflected, hitting the side netting and making it ripple so that even Nagelsmann appeared to think it had gone in.

Germany was seemingly in control in the second half and did get a second in the 68th minute when Maximilian Mittelstädt rolled the ball across from the left and Gündoğan drove it into the bottom right corner.

AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024

Germany's head coach Julian Nagelsmann, right, greets Hungary's coach Marco Ross, left, before a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Germany's Ilkay Gundogan, left, and Toni Kroos, right, smile after a Group A match at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

Germany's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer stops a shot during a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Germany's head coach Julian Nagelsmann, right, and assistant coach Sandro Wagner react during a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Germany's Jamal Musiala celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Germany's Jamal Musiala, third left, scores the opening goal during a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Hungary's Andras Schafer, left, and Germany's Jamal Musiala vie for the ball during a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Hungary players cheer fans at the end of a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Hungary's Dominik Szoboszlai (10) applauds on the pitch after a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Hungary's Marton Dardai, left, shakes hands with Germany's Niclas Fuellkrug after a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Hungary's Attila Fiola, left, clears the ball ahead of Germany's Niclas Fuellkrug (9) during a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Germany's Ilkay Gundogan, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Germany's Jamal Musiala (10) celebrates after scoring during a Group A match between Germany and Hungary at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Manchester City is in its worst slump in Pep Guardiola's reign.

The English champions lost a fourth straight game in all competitions as Brighton came from behind to win 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday.

City hasn't lost four games in a row in all competitions since 2006 — two years before the Abu Dhabi takeover of the club.

Guardiola has never lost four straight matches anywhere in his illustrious managerial career. In his time at Bayern Munich, Guardiola's team lost three straight games after a penalty-shootout defeat in the 2014-15 season.

Erling Haaland put City in front in the 23rd minute with his league-leading 12th goal of the campaign, but Brighton fought back as Joao Pedro equalized in the 78th and set up Matt O'Riley for the winner in the 83rd on his Premier League debut.

Second-placed City stayed two points behind Liverpool, which hosted Aston Villa later.

Guardiola's team's losing run started at Tottenham in the English League Cup last week, before a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth in the league and a 4-1 reverse at Sporting in the Champions League on Tuesday, when City also took the lead but fell apart in the second half.

Earlier, Wolverhampton secured its first win in the league and climbed off the bottom of the standings by beating Southampton 2-0 to ease the pressure on manager Gary O'Neil.

Brazil forward Matheus Cunha set up Pablo Sarabia for a second-minute goal and scored himself in the second half to inspire Wolves at Molineux.

Southampton dropped to last place and has lost nine of its 11 matches since returning to the top flight.

Harry Wilson scored another late goal to help Fulham continue its impressive season by winning at 10-man Crystal Palace 2-0.

Wilson's two stoppage-time goals earned Fulham a dramatic win at Brentford on Monday. This time, he built on Emile Smith Rowe's opener by netting in the 83rd minute, after Daichi Kamada was red-carded for Palace. Wilson had another goal ruled out for handball in stoppage time.

Brentford bounced back from that painful loss to Fulham with a 3-2 victory over Bournemouth, thanks to Yoane Wissa's double and a 50th-minute winner from Mikkel Damsgaard.

West Ham drew at home with Everton 0-0 in the other game, with England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford producing a breathtaking save in stoppage time to preserve a point for the visitors.

This story has been corrected to say Fulham won 2-0, not 3-0.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at Falmer Stadium in Brighton, England, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Brentford's Yoane Wissa, left, celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League match at the Gtech Community Stadium, London, Saturday Nov. 9, 2024. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Fulham's Harry Wilson celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Premier League match at Selhurst Park, London, Saturday Nov. 9, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Matheus Cunha scoring his sides second goal during the British Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton, at Molineux, Wolverhampton, England, Saturday Nov. 9, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Matheus Cunha celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the British Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton, at Molineux, Wolverhampton, England, Saturday Nov. 9, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at Falmer Stadium in Brighton, England, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland scores during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at Falmer Stadium in Brighton, England, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Brighton's Joao Pedro, left, celebrates after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at Falmer Stadium in Brighton, England, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at Falmer Stadium in Brighton, England, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Brighton's Matt O'Riley reacts after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at Falmer Stadium in Brighton, England, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)