Saints midfielder James Ward-Prowse ruined Philipp Hofmann's 22nd birthday as England Under-21s twice came from behind to beat their counterparts from Germany 3-2.

The Kaiserslautern striker had helped himself to a well-taken double either side of Jesse Lingard's equaliser and half-time, but ended up on the losing side in a thrilling encounter in front of a crowd of 30,178 at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium.

Gareth Southgate's men snatched victory with a rousing finish as Norwich's Nathan Redmond levelled ten minutes from time before team captain Ward-Prowse settled it two minutes later.

The visitors, with Liverpool’s Emre Can and skipper Moritz Leitner orchestrating from the middle of the park, starting 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 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 form keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Lingard converted Carl Jenkinson's cross with aplomb to level just seconds later.

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.

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.