World Champions edge towards EUROs after 3-2 win in Scotland

Germany have one foot in the EURO 2016 finals in France thanks to an important qualifying win over Scotland. Thomas Müller starred on matchday 8 in Group D as Die Mannschaft secured a 3-2 win in Glasgow, leaving them on the brink of confirming their place at the European Championship next summer. Joachim Löw’s team remain top of the table with 19 points, two points ahead of Poland and four ahead of Ireland. A draw against the latter when the sides meet on 8th October will be enough to take the World Champions to France 2016.

Gündogan repays Löw’s faith

A first-half Thomas Müller brace was cancelled out by an own goal from Mats Hummels and James McArthur’s strike, but the Bayern forward turned provider in the second half to set up Ilkay Gündogan for the winning goal in the 54th minute.

Löw made just one change to the side that started the 3-1 win over Poland on Friday night, with Gündogan coming in for Karim Bellarabi. Otherwise it was an unchanged team. Manuel Neuer kept goal in front of a back four made up of Emre Can, Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels and Jonas Hector. Captain Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos formed the pivot behind Müller, Gündogan and Mesut Özil, while Mario Götze was the lone man up top.

Goosebumps in sold-out Hampden Park

The atmosphere in Hampden Park packed with 52,000 fans was sensational and intimidating, just as Löw expected. The World Champions didn’t let it get to them though and controlled the game from the start. Scotland were happy to sit deep, virtually playing a back six to try and stop Die Mannschaft from creating definitive chances.

Defending in bulk worked for some time, but when Germany finally did get a shot away it resulted in the opening goal after 18 minutes. After stringing together 21 passes, the ball ended up with Thomas Müller, whose driven shot took a deflection off Scott Brown and beat David Marshall in the Scotland goal. It forced the Tartan Army to respond and they began to make their presence felt in the Germany half.

Manuel Neuer hadn’t been threatened though, that is until the 28th minute. A free kick was delivered into the box by Shaun Maloney and the unsighted FC Bayern keeper could only parry the ball into unlucky Mats Hummel and it landed in the back of the net. Die Mannschaft looked to respond quickly and it only took six minutes for Müller to strike again. Emre Can’s drilled shot was palmed away by Marshall, but the man of the moment was in the right place to react quickly and head the ball in off the post.

Some of the travelling fans were celebrating again in the 39th minute, but Mario Götze was flagged offside as he turned on a sixpence and picked out his spot. It could have been 3-1 at the break, but instead the World Champions were pegged back once again before half time. A Scotland corner was only headed away as far as James McArthur and he was able to sidefoot home from the edge of the box.

Müller turns provider

Despite the initial minutes of the second half being defined by nervous and at times sloppy play by Germany, Gündogan showed why Löw put his trust in him in central midfield. Müller was released in the box by a clever pass from the Dortmund midfielder, before the FCB striker picked out Gündogan in return with a clever cut-back, setting him up for a neat finish into the bottom corner to secure a 3-2 lead.

At this point, Scotland gave Germany even more space, but Müller & Co. were unable to put the game to bed. Just one Schweinsteiger shot from distance troubled Marshall’s goal in the final minutes. The hosts too threatened, but Alan Hutton was unable to convert.

In the final period, the World Champions controlled the tempo of the game with Götze creating another good chance before the end, but his failure to convert didn’t cost Die Mannschaft as they left Glasgow with all three points.

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