DFB rump eleven convinces in Armenia: The second suit defies the cold

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Florian Neuhaus and İlkay Gündoğan improvised a successful double six

Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa

The scene of the game:

At the end of the first half in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, everything seemed to have been arranged to quickly take refuge in the warm cabins with a cool three degrees outside temperature.

Referee François Letexier also seemed to agree, but his video assistant had something against it: Letexier was told to watch Taron Voskanyan's boarding against Florian Neuhaus again.

Lo and behold, Voskanyan only hit the opponent with his tackle, not the ball. So there were about four minutes in the cold - and a penalty goal by İlkay Gündoğan (45 + 4 minutes).

The result:

After 90 minutes it was finally 4: 1 (2: 0) for the German team, for national coach Hansi Flick it was the seventh victory in the seventh game.

Click here for the game report.

The first half:

Flick had to choose his starting eleven from a rump squad: In addition to the corona infected Niklas Süle and a handful of contact persons in quarantine, Julian Draxler and Leon Goretzka were injured, Manuel Neuer and Marco Reus were spared. With three Gladbachers in the starting eleven, a novelty in this millennium, the German team got into the game well - after a nice pass from Jonas Hofmann, Kai Havertz took the lead (15th), the Chelsea professional had hit the post earlier (5th). ). Afterwards, the DFB team did not have any great chances, but the Armenians also did not make enough of their counter-opportunities.

Casting for the chain:

Probably the most promising of these counterattacks was stopped by Jonathan Tah, who calmly stole the ball from the attacking Sargis Adamyan after Neuhaus lost the ball (37th). It was an important action for the Leverkusen player, who not only played in defense with Matthias Ginter and Thilo Kehrer, but should also be vying for a place in the squad with his fellow men: If Süle, Antonio Rüdiger and Mats Hummels are available, it will be close in Flick's defense.

Man for special tasks:

It will also be tight in the defensive midfield. Gündoğan in particular is still looking for his role here. With Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich on board, it will be difficult for the Manchester City professional to keep his place in the starting XI. Against Armenia, Gündoğan did at least everything to earn further chances: Gündoğan combined clever passes to the top with his own goal risk, not least with the second penalty goal in a week. After Toni Kroos' resignation, Gündoğan could at least establish himself as a regular penalty taker.

The second half:

Gündoğan's second goal should not be easy to reproduce, as it only came about because Stanislav Buchnev missed the Armenian goal (50th). On the other hand, midfielder Neuhaus was keen on balance when it came to distributing penalties: the Gladbach player got the one for Germany, the one for Armenia he owed with a kick on the foot of David Terteryan. It was no longer exciting despite the penalty that Henrich Mchitarjan converted (59th), Jonas Hofmann made everything clear (64th).

Pressing for the textbook:

The 4: 1 did not belong to Hofmann alone: ​​The right winger intercepted an Armenian passport and refined his strong scene with a cool finish. But the bad pass was a joint product, in which Havertz and the substitute Julian Brandt and Lukas Nmecha also had their share: They had put the Armenians' development game under significant pressure and thus provoked the unclean play. Flick should have liked how much the second row of his team has already internalized the processes against the ball.

No consolation prize for Armenia:

For the big picture in the World Cup qualification, the game was no longer relevant: Germany had long since qualified, and Armenia had already gambled away its originally good starting position for the play-off place in Group J.

While the North Macedonians secured that ticket for the play-offs at the same time, Armenia only remained fourth - but the celebration was still going on.

When Mchitarjan scored with a penalty, the fireworks and smoke bombs popped, and the home fans really got their money's worth for a minute or two.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, however, will have to do without the Caucasus state.