GERMANS ARE BACK IN THE GROOVE
GERMANY got their Group D campaign back on track with a comfortable win in Tbilisi yesterday. Two goals in five minutes from Marco Reus and Thomas Muller settled the world champions, who had made a stuttering start to the qualifiers last year, losing in Poland and drawing with the Republic of Ireland. But Reus shot them ahead after 39 minutes following a pass from Mario Gotze. Muller then fired in another on the stroke of half-time to put them in the driving seat and they were never threatened by Georgia, who sit second-bottom in the group. ‘A look at the table before the game was enough to see the urgency of the situation,’ Germany coach Joachim Low said afterwards. ‘We played a dynamic game.
We scored two first-half goals, then controlled it in the second half, although we did not have the same drive towards goal.’ Low admitted his team’s scoring rate would need to improve after they spurned several good chances and hit the woodwork twice. ‘We again missed some good opportunities. We had good combinations but failed to score a third or fourth goal.’ Georgia have had a tough start in Group D, recording four defeats and a win against whipping boys Gibraltar to stay on three points.
It did not take long for Germany, with several World Cup winners back in their team — including captain Bastian Schweinsteiger — to threaten, with Reus’ powerful drive palmed on to the crossbar by keeper Giorgi Loria after five minutes. The Germans piled on the pressure for most of the first half. Muller shot just wide and Mesut Ozil missed another good chance as the visitors had Georgia firmly on the backfoot. Reus did better six minutes before the break, though.
Gotze charged into the box and was lucky to scramble the ball to the winger, who drilled home for his second goal this week — he had also scored in their 2-2 draw in the friendly against Australia on Wednesday. Mueller made sure of the three points with a second goal three minutes later. Reus came close again, rattling the bar for a second time on the hour with another powerful shot. ‘We are not yet fully on track and still have to improve,’ said Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. ‘But there is time and I am confident we will get better.’