September 09, (THEWILL) – Germany came from its 6-0 whitewashing of Armenia on Sunday to Wednesday’s 4-0 thrashing of Iceland to earn new coach Hansi Flick plaudits and consolidate the leadership of Group J while keeping their unbeaten record in the qualifying series for the Qatar 2022 World Cup in tact.
Under Flick so far, the Germans have yet to concede a single goal in the three matches they have played against Liechtenstein, Armenia and Iceland while they have found the back of their opponents’ nets 13 times in for an amazing goal-scoring spree.
After his brace against Armenia on Sunday, Serge Gnabry wasted little time in opening his account in Reykjavik. The Bayern Munich forward tapped i Griekspoorn at the far post from a Leroy Sane pass. Initially, the linesman’s flagged the goal for offside but, after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was allowed to stand.
As good as the Germans were, Iceland’s defending was a letdown. Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger found himself in acres of space in her danger zone with enough time to direct a bullet header from Joshua Kimmich’s free-kick delivery into the net and double Germany’s lead. By the interval, Flick’s side was in total command of proceedings.
Four minutes into the restart, Albert Gudmundsson thought he had halved the deficit for Iceland. He it was who reacted the quickest after his namesake Johann Gudmundsson shook the frame of the post with a pile driver. However, Albert was clearly in an offside position as at the time.
The mostly porous Iceland defence did not do their attempts to level up any favours. The backline was left exposed while the team pushed forward. It was not long before one of the substitutes Flick introduced to rest tired legs, Kai Havertz, missed a chance to get his name on the scoresheet after inexplicably firing wide with the goal at his mercy.
To spare his blushes, Leroy Sane put the game beyond doubt with an unstoppable shot from an angle. As ravenously hungry for goals as ever, Germany kept coming with several chances for their other Chelsea forward Timo Werner.
The unfortunate forward was simply too profligate with the openings created for him to score. In the latter part of the match, Werner spurned three gilt-edged chances – including missing with the goal gaping. However, unlike Havertz, Werner was able to finally get a late goal with just one minute of regulation time left.
The 4-0 victory takes Germany four points clear of their nearest rival Armenia with 15 points from a possible 18. It also gives Flick a lot to be pleased about ahead of the next team in line to face them by October. That tie, against Romania, comes up in Germany on Friday, October 8.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
