It was a game to remember in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night as a strong performance from the World Champions saw them beat Italy 4-1 in front of 62,653 spectators to end a long winless drought. The last time Germany came out on top against the Azzurri was almost 21 years ago.
Head coach Joachim Löw made five changes to the side beaten by England on Saturday. With Manuel Neuer pulling out of the squad through injury, Marc-André ter Stegen took over goalkeeping duties, winning his fifth cap. Sebastian Rudy and World Cup winners Shkodran Mustafi, Julian Draxler and Mario Götze also came into the starting line-up, while Thomas Müller captained Die Mannschaft for the first time.
The deputy for the injured Bastian Schweinsteiger also set up the opening goal in Munich, with Toni Kroos curling his ball across into the bottom corner on 24 minutes. Müller provided the assist for the next goal too, as Mario Götze headed in his cross on the stroke of half time. That wasn’t all from the World Champions though, who made it a memorable first victory over Italy since 1995 thanks to goals from Jonas Hector and a penalty from Mesut Özil. A late consolation from Stephan El Shaarawy did little to dampen to spirits of the home side.
Kroos breaks the deadlock
The spectators in Munich saw a muted start from both sides, with neither willing to take too many risks in the early stages. Die Mannschaft slowly began taking the game by the scruff of the neck though, starting to make regular appearances in front of Gianluigi Buffon’s goal. It took until halfway through the first 45 for Germany to break the deadlock though. Thomas Müller’s whipped delivery took a deflection and sat up perfectly for Kroos, who curled it delightfully into the bottom corner.
Die Mannschaft continued to push forward after the opener, albeit without creating too many dangerous chances. However, the home crowd was cheering again just before half time when Müller’s cross found his Bayern München teammate Mario Götze in the centre and the attacking all-rounder beat two defenders to the header to make it 2-0.
Hector nets maiden Germany goal
The winning goalscorer in the 2014 World Cup final continued to catch the eye in the second half, combining well with Julian Draxler. Around the hour mark, the Wolfsburg winger did brilliantly to run down the line and pick out Jonas Hector in the centre, who turned home for his first goal in Germany colours.
Italy had a chance to get back within one goal before that, but Riccardo Montolivo dragged his shot just wide. It was Die Mannschaft who had the next say in changing the scoreline, when Sebastian Rudy was brought down in the box by Buffon. Mesut Özil stepped up to convert the penalty putting Löw side 4-0 ahead, before a late goal from El Shaarawy denied ter Stegen a clean sheet.