Germans are in Reus to be first
GERMANY, again playing without a recognised striker, hit three goals in eight minutes on the way to a 4-1 hammering of Kazakhstan that kept them well i n control of Group C.
Borussia Dortmund trio Marco Reus, Mario Gotze and Ilkay Guendogan scored in the first half and Reus added a fourth goal in stoppage time at the end of the game as group leaders Germany won for the fifth time in six qualifiers. The Germans, who also hit the woodwork six times in a onesided encounter that at times looked more like a friendly, played without a recognised front man just as they did i n Friday’s 3- 0 victory in Kazakhstan.
The home team produced some lightning- quick passing to open up the Kazakh defence time and time again.
Despite being without Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez, Germany put their opponents on the back foot from the start on a bitterly cold evening.
With former captain Michael Ballack watching from the stands for the first time since ending a long row with coach Joachim Low, the hosts looked sharp with midfielder Gotze again deployed as a forward.
Guendogan, taking over the playmaker’s role from the suspended Schweinsteiger, struck the post with a superb volley in the 20th minute.
It was only a matter of time before a goal came and it was Reus who found the target after a good solo run and an unstoppable 18-yard drive.
Gotze, who also rattled the woodwork, made it 2-0 in the 27th minute when he latched on to a Philipp Lahm cut-back.
Guendogan then made amends for his earlier miss, tapping in a well-timed Mesut Ozil pass in the box in the 31st minute.
The visitors needed a Germany mistake to pull one back after the restart with Bundesliga-based Heinrich Schmidtgal — who plays for Greuther Fuerth in the Bundesliga — drilling the ball in after keeper Manuel Neuer spectacularly miscued on the edge of the box.
The Germans continued to carve out chance after chance but outstanding keeper Andrei Sidelnikov kept them out until Reus completed the scoring late on.
Before that, Korotkin had hit the post for Kazahkstan.
The Germans were not as dominant in the second half, but still wasted several chances that were denied by some outstanding saves from goalkeeper Andrei Sidelnikov.
Kazakhstan stay second from bottom of the group with one point from six matches.
GERMANY: Neuer; Schmelzer, Mertesacker, Boateng, Lahm; Khedira, Guendogan, Ozil, Reus (Jansen 90), Muller, Gotze.
Scorers: Reus 23, 90, Goetze 27, Guendogan 31.
KAZAKHSTAN: Sidelnikov; Kirov, Mukhtarov, Gurman, Nurdauletov (Jolchiyev 46), Dmitrenko, Ostapenko (Kukeyev 64), Konysbayev (Shomko 78), Engel, Korobkin, Schmidtgal. Scorer: Schmidtgal 46. Referee: Halis Ozkahya (Turkey).