Out of the jaws of a major, growing predicament and national cross examination, Germany appear to be back in business – at least for a while.

Their qualification progress for Euro 2020 shuddered to a temporary halt on Friday against the Netherlands in Hamburg and, for the entire build-up to this absorbing 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland, there was something of an existentialist crisis lapping across the feet of both Die Mannschaft and the manager, Joachim Löw.

However, trust Löw – despite those wrong turns, including the disastrous 2018 World Cup group exit and relegation from the Nations League – to put matters right, eventually. His faith in a revamped outfit was fully vindicated with second-half goals by Marcel Halstenberg and Serge Gnabry. Germany now top Group C, much to Löw’s relief.

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“My players worked hard and ran themselves into the ground,” he said. “They were good and clever. It was a fair result. The players needed good willpower against a good Northern Ireland team. We expected a hard-tackling game and we got it in a game which tested our mental and physical strength. It was a different game, tactically, than against Holland.”

In view of the lengthy inquests stalking the visitors’ camp after their 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Dutch, it was barely considered that Northern Ireland, with a maximum of 12 points from four games, were actually top of the group leading into this much anticipated clash. Sure enough, those points by Michael O’Neill’s men had been secured against the also-rans Estonia and Belarus but, nevertheless, the Germans had arrived with a note of trepidation.

Northern Ireland, in the build-up, understandably, voiced their own winsome history of success against Germany in Euro qualifiers of old. Yet despite the understandable blizzard of nostalgia, urgent hashtags to “believe” and notable industry on the night, the outcome became increasingly clear with observations of Germany’s speed of thought and movement.

Löw had come in for stinging criticism for a passive tactical approach against the Netherlands. Clearly he had a rethink for this important Belfast tie. Calmness, intense preparation and, crucially, a willingness to work for long periods without the ball was the pre-match message from O’Neill if something, glorious or otherwise, was to be extracted. The efforts were, of course, admirable, but ultimately a certain elevated level of class took over.

The hosts were at full strength, in an understandably cautious 4-5-1 formation, with the captain Steven Davis becoming the most capped outfield player for his country, with 113 appearances. And this was a night where the Rangers midfielder had to be especially on red alert, coming up against his decorated counterpart, the Real Madrid star Toni Kroos.

Germany made a couple of changes from their chastening loss against their old Oranje rivals, with Julian Brandt and Halstenberg replacing injured Nico Schulz and Jonathan Tah - who scored an own goal against the Netherlands - respectively.

Northern Ireland hustled from the outset and Conor Washington will look back on an excellent showing that should have yielded a breakthrough. The Hearts striker drew a fine save from Manuel Neuer early on and the Germany keeper managed to scramble another chance clear at the end of the first half, when at times the visitors struggled to contain O’Neill’s waspish team.

But Halstenberg, of RB Leipzig, part of the new vanguard brought in by Löw, crashed home a fine left-foot half-volley on 48 minutes after a great run and cross by Lukas Klostermann. Germany edged their way in terms of possession and, although for periods Northern Ireland were immense in terms of energy levels, that was ultimately scant consolation for O’Neill.

“I’m hugely disappointed to lose the game,” said the hoarse-sounding manager. “We can be proud of the way we played but if you get chances against Germany you have to take them. Ultimately they punished us in the second half. It’s disappointing as we created chances but didn’t take them.

“We’ve played Germany three times in recent years and we played on the front foot. This team has more athleticism but we have to improve when we have the ball. The players realise they’re disappointed, particularly in the first half of the game.”

A lack of confidence during those rare moments in front of goal proved costly for Northern Ireland, a “middle tier” Euro side according to O’Neill, and it is a measure of how far they have travelled in recent years that they are genuinely vexed about losing to Löw’s brisk outfit. Gnabry’s late goal - rolling the ball home from close in – was largely academic. O’Neill remains encouraged but knows the games against Netherlands (twice) and Germany again in Frankfurt are not going to get any easier.