WC Qualifiers: Goals galore as Germany humble Armenia

In only his second match at the helm, boss Hansi Flick enjoyed a handsome 6-0 victory over Armenia as Marco Reus rediscovered his scoring boots for the German national team on Sunday in the Group J of the World Cup qualifiers. 

After Serge Gnabry opened the scoring in the sixth minute, there was no looking back for Germany as they outplayed Armenia with a sheer class on and off the ball. Flick picked Timo Werner to lead the line and the 25-year-old didn’t disappoint as he looked sharp from the early stages. 

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From the opening whistle, Germany expectedly enjoyed a lion’s share of possession, however, they looked much more progressive and attacking minded with their build-up under Flick. Under former manager Joachim Loew, Die Mannschaft had looked incredible passive on the possession during the recently concluded European Championship. But Flick seemed to have flicked on a different switch.

After Ilkay Gundogan set up Gnabry for the opening goal, the Bayern winger yet again found the back of the net nine minutes later.

Soon after Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus got on the scoresheet for Germany for the first time since November 2019. Werner backheeled an incoming cross from Gnabry onto the path of Reus, who tucked it home with ease. 

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Just before the half-time whistle, Werner joined the scoring charts himself making the matters worse for Armenia. 

Although in recent times Germany have often been criticised for letting their foot off the gas too early, tonight was not going to be the same, as midfielder Jonas Hofmann scored a stunning goal minutes after the break to put Germany 5-0 ahead. 

With the result already decided, Flick opted for a plethora of changes, bringing in youngsters for valuable international experience.

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Before being replaced by Karim Adeyemi in the 72nd minute, Gnabry missed a glorious opportunity to net the ball home and bring up his hat-trick. 

However, Adeyemi carried on with the intent shown by the revamped German side as the 19-year-old RB Salzburg striker combined with Florian Wirtz to bury the ball into the back of the net and humble the Armenian team, who looked out of their wits throughout the 90 minutes.