Belarus 0-2 Germany: Report, Ratings & Reaction as Die Mannschaft Ease Past White Wings

Germany maintained their 100% start to Euro 2020 qualifying after easing past Belarus at the Borisov Arena on Saturday night.

The home side made a bright start to the Group C fixture, forcing a corner in the opening moments of the game.

The game soon began to take its expected pattern with Germany monopolising possession and starting to create chances. Former Arsenal forward Serge Gnabry had the first good chance of the game in the ninth minute when he made a driving run into the box, but hit his shot straight at Hutar in the Belarus goal.

Three minutes later Leroy Sané gave the visitors the lead with a smart finish from Joshua Kimmich’s pass after Germany had won the ball back high up the pitch.

The visitors started to increase the tempo of their attacks from the point onward, with Belarus struggling to get out of their own half.

However they still struggled to create many clear-cut chances and had to withstand a good passage of play by Belarus midway into the first half.

NEUER with a BIG SAVE to keep it 1-0! Uh oh….#BLRGER

— Bavarian Football Works (@BavarianFBWorks) June 8, 2019

They had Manuel Neuer to thank for keeping their lead intact after the German number one made an excellent save to keep out Nikita Naumov’s header from a corner.

This came just minutes after Stanislaw Dragun was found with an excellent cross into the box but his first touch was poor, handling the ball and putting an end to the attack.

Germany would have been frustrated going in at half-time with only a one goal lead and looked to determined to secure the three points from the restart. They made sure of their victory with their second goal just after the hour mark. Mathias Ginter delivered a cut-back which seemed to be aimed at Gnabry but the ball reached the on-rushing Marco Reus instead, and the Borussia Dortmund forward drove into the box and calmly chipped the ball over Hutar and into the net.

The four-time World Cup winners had further opportunities to score, with Sane hitting the post and they eventually eased to victory, as the home side showing few signs of coming back into the game.

The win takes Germany into second place in Group C, three points behind Northern Ireland who have a game in hand. Belarus remain bottom of the group.

Check out our breakdown of the game below.

Belarus

Key Talking Point

For all of Germany’s good play they were still only a goal ahead after half an hour and had a huge let-off when Belarus missed an excellent chance to equalise.

Nikita Naumov found himself with a fair deal of space from a corner and directed a header towards goal, but Manuel Neuer made an excellent save from close range.

An equalising goal would have changed the complexion of the tie and potentially frustrated Germany and Belarus can look back on this chance as a potential missed opportunity for them to cause an upset.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Hutar (7)*; Shitov (6), Naumov (5), Martynovich (6), Palyakow (6); Kavalyow (6), Gromyko (6), Drahun (5), Mayewski (6), Valadzko (6); Laptsew (6).

Substitutes: Korzun (6), Skavysh (6), Gordeichuk (6).

STAR MAN – Goalkeeper Hutar was Belarus’ best player on a night where they would have been expected to be on the back foot for much of the night.

As he would have expected Hutar was kept busy by Germany’s fluid forward line throughout the game and he showed good shot-stopping ability to keep out efforts from Sane and Gnabry.

There was little he could do about the goals but he can take heart from his performance against the four-time World champions.

Germany

Key Talking Point

After the home side’s energetic start, Germany took control of the game and took the lead in the 12th minute.

Joshua Kimmich played the ball into the area into Leroy Sane in the penalty area and the Manchester City man cut on to his favoured left-foot and curled the ball into the far corner.

While the goal didn’t open the floodgates as Germany would have wanted, it did set them on their way to a routine victory.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Neuer (8); Ginter (7), Süle (7), Tah (7); Klostermann (7), Kimmich (9)*, Gündoğan (7), Schulz (7); Reus (8), Gnabry (8), Sané (8).

Substitutes: Draxler (6), Brandt (6), Goretzka (6).

STAR MAN – Joshua Kimmich had a solid game at the heart of Germany’s midfield.

Despite the fact that he has become Bayern Munich’s first choice right-back over the last few seasons, the 24-year-old’s favoured position is central midfield and this performance was a reminder of his qualities here.

He showed his excellent range of passing and vision to set up Germany’s first goal while also helping thwart Belarus’ counter-attacks throughout the night.

Although he will come up against sides who won’t give him the time and space which he was afforded by Belarus, it was a sign of his versatility that he was seamlessly able to slot into Germany’s midfield after mainly playing as a defender for his club.

Looking Ahead

Belarus host Northern Ireland on Tuesday in their next Euro 2020 qualifier before visiting Estonia in September.

Germany’s next qualifier will also take place on Tuesday when they host Estonia at the Opel Arena in Mainz.

Following this, they host arch-rivals Netherlands in September.

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