Germany see off Belarus in Euro 2020 qualifying

Leroy Sane’s early goal set Germany on their way to a routine 2-0 Euro 2020 qualifying win away to Belarus.

Sane, controversially left of the the squad for the 2018 World Cup, made it two goals in Germany’s opening two Group C matches as Joachim Low’s side built on their win away to Holland.

Marco Reus made the points safe in the second half as the visitors continued their rebuilding after last year’s miserable World Cup and Nations League campaigns.

Low was not in Borisov for the match because of a contused artery requiring hospital treatment, so assistant Marcus Sorg took charge.

And although his side never looked in real danger of slipping up, he will be disappointed it took them until after the hour mark to kill the game off.

The visitors started on the front foot and their early pressure was rewarded in the 13th minute.

Joshua Kimmich played in Sane down the right of the area and the Manchester City winger cut in on his left foot and placed a shot past goalkeeper Aleksandr Gutor.

Germany continued to dominate, albeit without carving out any clear-cut chances, before the hosts almost equalised out of the blue shortly before the half-hour mark.

A cross from the right found Stanislav Dragun unmarked in front of goal, but he took too long to bring the ball under control and Lukas Klostermann got across to block his shot.

From the resulting corner Manuel Neuer tipped Nikita Naumov’s powerful header over the bar.

Belarus now had a foothold as their opponents struggled to regain their early dominance.

German moves broke down before they reached the area until the 62nd minute when Reus did get through.

Matthias Ginter cut a clever disguised ball low across the edge of the area from the right and Reus, bursting through, took it in his stride away from the defenders and guided home a finish.

Serge Gnabry should have made it three only to apply a very weak finish to a close-range chance.

Belarus then scrambled the ball clear from just in front of the goal-line as a Nico Schulz cross failed to find a team-mate, while Sane sent a header from a Matthias Ginter cross against a post as Germany had to settle for two.

FourFourTwo Staff

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