Germany go top with 3-1 win over Poland

Top of the table! The Germany national team have taken a huge step towards securing qualification for next year’s European Championship in France. Joachim Löw’s side were surprisingly comfortable as they recorded a 3-1 win over Poland to leapfrog their opponents in the table – Germany now top Group D with 16 points, whilst Poland sit second on 14.

Thomas Müller and Mario Götze got Germany off to a dream start inside 20 minutes, but the visitors pulled one back before half time through FC Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski. In their first game of the season which concludes with next summer’s European Championship, Germany put in a confident performance – players linked up well and created a number of chances. However, there will be some worries about the defensive side of their game, as Germany looked vulnerable to the counter attack on a number of occasions.

Löw started with eight World Cup winners in his side – the only real surprise in the starting XI was Emre Can of Liverpool FC, who made his senior debut at right back. On the other side of defence, Jonas Hector kept his place, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Karim Bellarabi starting ahead of him on the left wing in place of Marco Reus, whose fractured foot has kept him out of these international games.

Hector sets up a dream start

Germany started the much better side in front of 48,500 fans at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt – there was no sign at all that the players had only completed two full training sessions together in preparation for the game. Poland were as usual happy to sit back and concede possession, but Germany were able to exploit the spaces and create good opportunities. Bellarabi had a couple of good chances in the opening ten minutes – his first effort was deflected just wide of the far post with Fabianski helpless in the Poland goal.

It was Jonas Hector down the left who injected the necessary pace to create a real goalscoring chance – the full back played a sharp one-two with Bellarabi and cut the ball back to Müller who was waiting to finish. The striker won’t get many easier goals in his career as he swept home to put the hosts deservedly 1-0 up. Seven minutes later, Hector was provider again as he found Mario Götze in space on the edge of the box. The FC Bayern midfielder cut inside and let loose a fierce shot that flew past Fabianski and inside the near post to double Germany’s lead. Hector even had the chance to score himself, but he saw his effort blocked – as did Müller, who was denied a second by Fabianski.

Going 2-0 down seemed to spur Poland into life as they suddenly began to pose a threat to the German defence, especially through Robert Lewandowski and left winger Kamil Grosicki – and it was those two who combined to get Poland back in the game. A fantastic cross with the outside of Grosicki’s right boot was headed home by Lewandowski just before half time, and suddenly Germany weren’t looking so comfortable. Lewandowski was also presented with a golden opportunity to level the scores right on the stroke of half time, but his fierce effort was magnificently tipped over by his club teammate Manuel Neuer.

Götze puts the game beyond doubt

The second half played out very much like the first – Germany had the majority of possession, but unlike in the first half were unable to make it count in the early stages. Substitute Ilkay Gündogan made a very good impression after joining the game, and slid in Mario Götze with a perfectly-weighted pass – but the forward’s curling effort bounced off the outside of the post to safety.

Manuel Neuer came to the rescue on a couple of occasions in the second period, as Germany were almost punished for some lapses in concentration first by Lewandowski and then Grosicki. However, at the top end of the pitch the hosts were looking ever-more likely – Müller and Mats Hummels both had efforts cleared off the line, and Mario Götze saw his effort blocked when in a dangerous position.

Germany’s patience did pay off in the end, as Götze was the quickest to pounce onto the rebound after Müller’s powerful strike from the edge of the area. The World Cup winner calmly slotted home into the empty net to grab his second and Germany’s third goal of the game, securing the three points and sending Germany to the top of their group in the process.