Saturday's Euro 2024 quarter-final clash with Switzerland was a memorable one for England fans, as the Three Lions enjoyed a rare penalty shoot-out success to reach the last four.
For the second successive match in Germany, England were staring at a humiliating exit. After Jude Bellingham took centre-stage against Slovakia, it was Bukayo Saka's turn to produce a rescue act.
Without Saka's heroics, Gareth Southgate's reign as England manager would surely have ended after exactly 100 games.
As it is, he'll be hoping he has at least two more to savour.
Southgate has always had his critics, but three semi-final appearances in four major tournaments under him – one more than England managed in their previous 17 – marks him out as his country's most successful manager in modern times.
As Southgate celebrates another huge win on a landmark occasion, we run through the highs and lows of his tenure.
Southgate's record
Southgate is just the third England boss to bring up three figures, after Walter Winterbottom (139 games between 1946 and 1962) and World Cup winner Alf Ramsey (133 between 1963 and 1974).
England have won 60 matches under him, drawing 24 and losing 16. His 60% win ratio puts him fifth among all Three Lions managers, after Sam Allardyce, who memorably won his only game in charge, Fabio Capello (66.7%), Ramsey (61.1%) and Glenn Hoddle (60.7%).
Saturday's shoot-out success was his 24th major tournament match at the helm. His 13 wins in such games are the most by any England manager in history, while only Ramsey (66.7%) has bettered his 54.2% win rate in World Cup/Euros matches.
The most common criticism of Southgate relates to his safety-first approach, but only Winterbottom (383) and Ramsey (224) have overseen more England goals than his 210. The Three Lions' average of 2.1 goals per game under him tops their average of 1.98 under Ramsey.
The highs
Southgate's first tournament at the helm will always be remembered fondly, as his unfancied side went within a whisker of reaching the 2018 World Cup final, two years on from the nadir of Roy Hodgson's team losing to Iceland at Euro 2016.
With Harry Kane winning the Golden Boot and Harry Maguire providing a threat from set-pieces, England made supporters fall back in love with the national team as they reached the semi-finals, ultimately surrendering a 1-0 lead in an extra-time loss to a superior Croatia side.
The standout moment surely came in the last 16 as Colombia were beaten on penalties – England's first victory in a World Cup shoot-out and just their second in seven attempts at major tournaments at the time.
Coming after a 1-1 draw with stubborn opponents with the knockout draw opening up, Saturday's victory over Switzerland shared many similarities with the Colombia win.
Southgate has now overseen three shoot-out victories, with Switzerland also vanquished in 2019 as the Three Lions took bronze in the inaugural edition of the Nations League.
And while England's only penalty defeat under Southgate came in his biggest game in charge, their run to the Euro 2020 final was another high before heartbreak against Italy.
Most memorable of all was a 2-0 victory over Germany in the last 16, England's first competitive win over them at Wembley Stadium since the 1966 World Cup final. The semi-final versus Denmark, meanwhile, brought Southgate's only major tournament win to date over a top-10 nation in FIFA's world rankings.
The lows
The Euro 2020 final was, of course, a case of what might have been for England and Southgate. Luke Shaw's early volley sent Wembley into hysterics, but the Three Lions dropped deeper and deeper, inviting Leonardo Bonucci's equaliser and going on to suffer penalty heartache.
Southgate was fiercely criticised for losing control of the final, with England's 34.4% possession share their lowest at Wembley since a 2016 draw with Spain (34.3%).
Either side of that final, England went unbeaten in 90 minutes through 22 matches, but they then endured a dismal run midway through 2022, failing to win any of their six games in the 2022-23 edition of the Nations League as they were relegated from the top tier.
The low point of Southgate's reign came in a crushing 4-0 defeat to Hungary at Molineux that June, where supporters turned on the England boss for the first time after the team's heaviest defeat under him.
England recovered to impress in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but more penalty agony awaited them in the quarter-finals, albeit not in a shoot-out.
With England 2-1 down but in the ascendency against France, captain Kane blazed a late spot-kick over the crossbar, becoming the first player to both score and miss a penalty in a World Cup match since Czechoslovakia's Michal Bilek versus the United States in 1990.
With many believing this tournament will be Southgate's last regardless of the outcome, he will hope the true high point of his tenure is yet to come.
The players
Although many players have won Southgate's trust during his eight years at the helm, one man stands clear of the rest.
Kane has been Southgate's most trusted lieutenant, his 79 appearances under him (69 as captain) putting him clear of Kyle Walker (68), John Stones and Jordan Pickford (both 66).
The striker's 60 England goals under Southgate, meanwhile, are more than treble the figure managed by his closest rival, Raheem Sterling with 18. Kane (16) also leads Sterling (13) for the most assists under Southgate.
No Three Lions player has ever scored more goals for the team under a particular manager, with Gary Lineker's 35 strikes for Bobby Robson putting him a distant second.
Only three players have won more England caps under one manager, with Billy Wright playing under Winterbottom 105 times, Bobby Moore appearing in 100 games for Ramsey, and Peter Shilton 83 for Robson.
Real Madrid 2-0 Villarreal: Valverde and Vinicius stunners down high-flying visitors
Real Madrid went level on points with rivals Barcelona at the LaLiga summit following their 2-0 triumph over high-flying Villarreal on Saturday.
The hosts opened the scoring in stunning fashion when Luka Modric's short corner was dummied by Jude Bellingham for Federico Valverde, with the Uruguayan taking aim from distance and finding the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection.
But Villarreal, who had won back-to-back league games heading into the encounter at the Bernabeu, responded almost immediately when Nicolas Pepe's header rattled the crossbar before Thierno Barry nodded over.
Los Blancos had further chances to increase their lead, but Antonio Rudiger sent an effort over the bar before Bellingham's long-range effort sailed wide of the post.
But the victory was sealed 17 minutes from time with another sensational strike, this time Vinicius Junior tried his luck from long-range and curled a superb strike beyond the grasp of Diego Conde after being found by Valverde.
The result, however, was overshadowed by a nasty injury in second-half stoppage time to Dani Carvajal, with the Spaniard leaving the pitch on a stretcher and in tears after a collision with Yeremy Pino.
Data Debrief: Wonder goals save Los Blancos
Madrid's two strikes against Villarreal both came from outside the box, as many as they had scored in their previous 39 goals in LaLiga.
But Carlo Ancelotti's side were far from their very best at the Bernabeu. They managed to muster an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.47 compared to Villarreal's 0.62, with only two of Los Blancos' 11 shots on target.
Valverde, however, impressed for Madrid, creating the joint-most chances alongside Modric (three), while also completing more accurate passes (77) than any other player on the pitch.
Inter 3-2 Torino: Thuram hat-trick keeps Serie A champions within reach of top spot
Marcus Thuram plundered a hat-trick to propel Inter to a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino in Saturday's Serie A clash.
The victory places Inter second in the league standings with 14 points, two behind leaders Napoli.
Visiting defender Guillermo Maripan was given a straight red card after 20 minutes for a late challenge on Thuram.
Inter swiftly made their numerical advantage count, with Thuram heading in from close range five minutes after the sending-off.
Thuram doubled Inter's lead in the 35th minute with another header from close range. However, Torino pulled one back a minute later, with Duvan Zapata taking advantage of a defensive error to finish from inside the box.
Thuram completed his hat-trick on the hour mark, being in the right place to tap in a rebound after Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had saved a header.
Torino forward Nikola Vlasic converted a penalty four minutes from time after Hakan Calhanoglu had tripped Adam Masina in the area to tee up a grandstand finish.
However, the visitors were unable to mount a final push to find an equaliser.
Data Debrief: Three-goal Thuram does Torino damage
Thuram scored his second hat-trick while playing in the top five European Leagues (in all competitions), after his previous one for Borussia Monchengladbach against Oberachern in the German DFB-Pokal in 2022.
In doing so, he became only the third Inter player to score a hat-trick against Torino in Serie A, after Roberto Boninsegna in March 1974 and Edwin Ronald Firmani in December 1958.
'I back myself on penalties', says Everton's spot-kick hero Pickford
Jordan Pickford said he fancied Anthony Gordon would switch up his penalty routine after scoring his last two spot-kicks for Newcastle United.
Gordon was a livewire for Newcastle against Everton on Saturday, though the England international ultimately fluffed his lines in the biggest moment of the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.
With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Gordon failed to beat his former club-mate Pickford from 12 yards after James Tarkowski had fouled Sandro Tonali.
The Goodison faithful were in a buoyant mood after seeing Gordon, who left Everton for Newcastle in 2023, squander his big chance, though the Toffees could not craft an opening at the other end, albeit Dominic Calvert-Lewin was perhaps unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty of his own.
Nevertheless, Everton held firm to make it three Premier League games unbeaten and secure their first clean sheet of the campaign.
Pickford and Gordon spoke on the pitch at full-time, and the England goalkeeper told Sky Sports: "He asked me why I went that way. I just said both his penalties before had gone right, so I fancied him going to the left, which he did.
"I back myself on pens, it’s the first one I’ve saved for Everton in a while."
It marked Pickford's sixth penalty save from 33 spot-kicks faced in the league during his time at Everton, and his first stop since a crucial one from James Maddison against Leicester City in May 2023.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have had two of their last three Premier League penalties saved (one goal), having scored 23 of their previous 24 spot kicks in the competition.
Asked if it helped going up against a player he knows well in Gordon, Pickford said: "I watched the game [against Man City] and he reversed it against Ederson, and he went the same way the game before so I just fancied him going goalkeeper's left.
"It hit me off my knee, straight off my beak [nose]. I don't think Ant executed it to perfection, he'll be disappointed, but I’m there to make the save and that’s what I’ve done.
"It's like trying to double-bluff each other – I've got the better of him, it’s a big moment and managed to get us a draw. Now we move forward."
Eddie Howe, meanwhile, said his team took "big steps forward" despite not getting the three points.
"I have to credit the players because it is a difficult environment to play in and it is a much better defensive display from us too. Big steps forward," Howe told BBC Sport.
"We stood up to the physical test and were technically very good. We are trying to break barriers and have an outstanding season. I think we are capable of more and we have some tough fixtures to come.
"Anthony handled the occasion very well. I think his all-round game was very good. He will be disappointed with the penalty. But credit to Pickford for the save."
This was just Newcastle’s third clean sheet in their last 32 Premier League away games – they had recorded three consecutive shutouts on the road before this run.
Since the start of last season, meanwhile, only Arsenal (21) and Liverpool (15) have kept more Premier League clean sheets than Everton (14).
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