The Germany national team have picked up their second win of EURO 2016 qualifying. Coach Joachim Löw’s World Champions beat UEFA newcomers Gibraltar 4-0 in Nuremberg on Friday night. With seven points from four games, the DFB-Team remain in third place in Group D behind Poland (10 points) and Ireland (7 points).
As expected, Germany pressed for the opening goal from the very first minute, but it took them twelve before they could break the deadlock against a side primarily made up of amateurs. Thomas Müller was on hand to stab home after Shkodran Mustafi’s deflected off the post into his path.
Over 90 percent possession
Löw opted for a back three in order to keep the Gibraltar defence occupied, while Max Kruse and Thomas Müller made up an unfamiliar front two. There were spells when Germany were enjoying over 90 percent of the possession and were pinning the visitors back inside their own penalty area. The DFB-Team were lacking precision with their long-range efforts, although Jérôme Boateng did hit the woodwork. A quick and direct approach was bearing fruit though. Mario Götze played Podolski in down the left and the Arsenal man’s dangerous cross was turned in by Müller to make it 2-0 shortly before the half-hour mark.
Germany added another soon after. Götze played a neat one-two with Kruse and calmly slotted past Jamie Robba to extend the hosts’ advantage. Löw’s side suffered a scare shortly before the break though. A quick throw-in gave Liam Walker the chance to try his luck from distance with Manuel Neuer scuttling back to his goal, but fortunately the Bayern goalkeeper was able to tip a well-hit volley behind.
The DFB-Team were unable to continue their goalscoring exploits early in the second half, with a disciplined Gibraltar defence limiting the home team to unsuccessful pot shots. The 43,520 fans inside 1. FC Nürnberg’s Grundig-Stadion had to wait until the 67th minute before they saw another goal. Podolski broke into the area on the left-hand side and his ball across the six-yard box was inadvertently put into his own net by substitute Yogan Santos.
Jonas Hector makes his debut
With Germany now comfortably leading 4-0, Löw opted to hand Köln’s Jonas Hector his senior debut, replacing Erik Durm at left back. Hector is therefore the 74th player to be handed his debut since Joachim Löw was appointed head coach. As the game entered its closing stages, Gibraltar, who let in 17 goals in the first three competitive matches of their history, bravely went in search of a historic goal of their own, but Neuer didn’t have to move to keep out Juan-Carlos Garcia’s shot.
The DFB-Team weren’t as purposeful in the second half and produced few goalscoring chances, but the game still ended with a routine 4-0 victory. The next task for the World Champions awaits them on Tuesday, when they face defending European Champions Spain in a friendly in Vigo at 20:45 CET.