A largely one-sided contest at the Parc des Prince saw Germany top Group C after a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland earlier tonight.
From the outset it was a much more attentive Die Mannschaft on the field, with some minor tweaks made by Joachim Loew seeming to unlock the attacking potential we had failed to see at the tournament so far. Chances at goal started coming inside the opening 10 minutes, yet the efforts of Irish goalkeeper Michael McGovern let the world champions know they would need to fight for their rewards. The sustained pressure could only be withstood until the half-hour mark though, when Thomas Muller setup Mario Gomez for a close-range finish to put Germany deservedly ahead.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Their stronghold on the contest would continue after the break – with the ball seeming to never spend more than a few moments in the Northern Ireland attacking-half at a time. Despite this though, the chances continued to go begging though, as a mix of luck, profligacy and simply heroic goalkeeping frustrating Loew and his players.
Efficient Germany still lack the hitman
The myriad of chances that were on offer for the likes of Muller, Mario Gotze and Gomez in the first-half alone were hard to count, and by the end of the 90 minutes it was confounding that only one of their 28 attempts had found the net.
Bayern Munich’s Muller hit the bar twice and was denied in an early one-on-one chance with the opposition custodian, while his teammate Gotze had a powerful header go just wide of the post in the second-half. Despite scoring the solitary goal, Gomez also miss hit a couple of shots when under little challenge from the Irish defence.
Although they go through the group stage without losing a game or conceding, the lack of goals scored will play on the minds and frustrate the Germans – who are capable of so much more and will have even tougher defensive tests in their way.
Slim hopes remain for bullied Green and White Army
It was an unfortunate time for the Northern Irish to have to face the Germans, who were expected by many to come out of their shells after playing it safe early on. Michael O’Neill was well aware that any potential success would come from a deep-lying defence, giving up over 70% of the possession for periods of the match to try and keep the scoreline deficit as slender as possible.
Their opposition no doubt could have won by a lot more, but this result will come as a relief to the dedicated Green and White Army. The highest praise will no doubt be heaped upon their goalkeeper McGovern, who made a total of nine saves that single-handedly kept the Northern Irish alive until the final whistle. Finishing third in Group C with three points and a goal difference of zero, there is still a decent chance O’Neill’s side could keep their tournament alive.
Toni Kroos completed MORE passes (111) than the ENTIRE #NIR side (105).
That's insane! pic.twitter.com/210ZP6TZto
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 21, 2016
Loew finding the right balance
While questions will hang over Germany’s goal scoring heading into the knockout rounds, against Northern Ireland an important switch made to their setup allowed the world champions to display their dynamism, creativity and overall ruthlessness on the ball. Ozil and Muller traded places in the midfield line, with the Arsenal playmaker operating this time from the right and finding the space to cut his passes through defenders, and in turn Muller had far greater opportunity to get into his best positions around the 18-yard box. At the back, any doubts surrounding Mats Hummels should be put to rest after the veteran shutdown any attempted counter from the Northern Irish, rounding out a typical Joachim Loew masterclass.
UKRAINE 0 POLAND 1
Die Mannschaft are now at somewhat at a crossroads, needing to show more to compete in the upcoming do-or-die rounds, but there will be a reluctance to change anything in the team after such a dominant showing.
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