Germany inflicted a second home defeat in less than a week on England this evening, beating the Three Lions 1-0 at Wembley.

Arsenal's Per Mertesacker got the only goal of the game for the visitors, nodding a header past Joe Hart having lost his marker inside the box.

England came close to an equaliser through Andros Townsend when he skimmed the post from range, but Roy Hodgson's side were forced to settle for back-to-back defeats at Wembley for the first time since 1977.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at another disappointing night for England.

Match statistics:

England:
Shots 8
On target 0
Possession 45%
Corners 11
Fouls 15

Germany:
Shots 15
On target 5
Possession 55%
Corners 6
Fouls 12

Was the result fair?

There could be arguments made that England deserved at least a draw from tonight's match, but the statistic that screams out from above - zero shots on target for the hosts - speaks volumes about their main problem this evening. They had a decent amount of the ball and threatened up to a point on a couple of occasions, but as soon as they reached the final third the attacks were quickly snuffed out by a dominant German defence. In open play, England were the better team for large periods of the match, but they still never really looked like breaking through Germany and can't say that they did enough to warrant anything other than a loss.

England's performance

For England to have no shots on target at Wembley is almost unheard of, and that will be Roy Hodgson's main gripe tonight. He named a strong lineup with players that should be capable of troubling even the best defences in the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge, but the hosts were limited to a couple of long-range shots to look back on as their 'nearly moments'. There are positives to take out of the performance, and Hodgson will once again stress that these friendlies were designed to learn things about the squad and give them valuable experiences, but tonight's display further served to destroy the feel-good factor created a month ago by World Cup qualification. The boos at the end were perhaps a little harsh, but it is clear that England are not at the level required to take on the world's best teams.

Germany's performance

Germany were not at their best tonight with a weakened lineup, but they didn't need to be. They were missing a number of world-class players yet still fairly comfortably saw out the victory, with the defence in particular putting in an impressive performance. The visitors never seemed to be forced out of third gear tonight and it is frightening to think how dangerous they could be with a full-strength lineup. Performances like the one tonight won't be good enough in the World Cup, but it hinted that they will be genuine contenders in Brazil next year.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Per Mertesacker: The entire German defence deserves this award for their assured display, but Mertesacker gets the vote for being the leader of such an efficient unit. England could not get an inch against Germany's backline tonight, with the threats of Rooney, Sturridge et al completely nullified with apparent ease. There is also the small matter of the Arsenal player scoring the winning goal with a textbook header that Joe Hart could do nothing about.

Biggest gaffe

He had a good game overall, but Hart also committed the biggest mistake of the match. He rushed out of goal in the second half to claim a ball that Chris Smalling seemingly had under control, clattering into his defender. England were lucky to get away with the error, which was similar to the one that saw Hart finally dropped by Manchester City a couple of weeks ago.

Referee performance

Stephane Lannoy had a quiet match tonight, with no major decisions to be made and no cards to be handed out. England vs. Germany doesn't always pass by so peacefully for officials, but tonight was about as straightforward as they come for the ref.

What next?

England: The next major date in the diary for England is the World Cup draw on December 6, before a friendly against Denmark in March of next year.

Germany: Germany will also have a keen eye on the World Cup draw which, unlike England, they will be seeded for, while their next action on the pitch comes against the Three Lions' other conquerors - Chile - in March.