Published 07:01 IST, October 14th 2019
Euro 2020 qualifiers: Estonia vs Germany match report and key moments
EURO 2020 QUALIFIERS: Germany visited Estonia being top of the table in their group. Have a look at the match report and some key moments from the game.
Germany have continued their good run in the Euro 2020 qualifiers as they defeated Estonia 3-0 in their clash on Monday, October 14, 2019 at the A. Coq Arena, Tallinn. The win leaves Germany tied at 15 points tied with Netherlands for the first spot in Group C. Here are the key moments and match report of the game.
Match Report
Netherlands, Germany and Northern Ireland were all battling for the top two positions in the Group C in the qualifiers and a win for Joachim Leow's men was very important for them to keep up with the rampant Dutch. Leow made three changes to their side from their 2-2 draw against Argentina with Marco Reus, Manuel Neuer and Gundogan back in the starting line-ups and Serge Gnabry surprisingly left out. Estonia, meanwhile, made seven changes to the side from their draw against Belarus.
The match began with an early scare for the Germans as Can was sent-off for a foul on Frank Liivak after losing the ball on the edge of the box. The first big chance of the game also came through Estonia after Joonas Tamm lifted the ball over the bar from close range from Konstantin Vassilijev's corner. Ten-man Germany failed to create many clear chances despite having the bulk of the possession and had to resort on taking shots from long range. Marco Reus struck the bar from his free-kick in the 40th minute and that was pretty much their best chance in the first half; which ended at 0-0.
The second half, however, saw the Germans attack with more intent. Gundogan finally broke the deadlock in the 51st minute with a well-timed kick from outside the box. He soon followed it up with another goal; albeit with a deflection after Reus smartly backheeled the ball into his path. The second goal made the game more open as Estonia chose to attack, throwing caution out of the wind, until the visitors scored their third when Timo Werner was picked out by Gundogan and the German forward made no mistake in front of the goal. A few chances followed for Germany, who couldn't make them count, ending the game with a 3-0 win.
The game summed up in short
Can's red card sure came as a shock to the Germans, which pretty much summed up their first half. But the giants did rally well to overcome the setback and end up as comfortable 3-0 winners. Timo Werner came back from injury to score a goal from the bench and was in good touch to add more to his goals tally in the dying minutes. Joshua Kimmich's performance was impressive as well. It was Gundogan, however, who was the pick of the players for Germany with his brace and an assist for the third goal, winning the Man of the Match award for the same.
Germany can now secure their spot at the tournament next summer with victories in their final two games in the next international break. As for Estonia, they picked up a solitary point and face a daunting task with a trip to the Netherlands next up.
Updated 09:44 IST, October 14th 2019