Germany ran out convincing winners this evening, dispatching their visitors with ease on their way to an important three points.
| Photo by Karina Hessland/Getty Images |
All smiles for the home side who claimed a resounding 5-0 victory over Malta at the Sportpark Ronhof, rediscovering their ruthless edge to stay within touching distance of Group F leaders Greece.
Antonio Di Salvo’s men dominated from the first whistle, pinning Malta deep inside their own half and dictating every phase of play. Nicolo Tresoldi forced a superb point-blank save from Karl Sargent inside four minutes, and the breakthrough arrived shortly after.
A smart short-corner routine undid the visitors, with Tom Bischof initiating the move and quickly receiving the return ball before driving inside and firing a low strike from distance beyond the flat-footed Sargent. Germany continued to monopolise possession, moving the ball with ease as Malta struggled to escape their own half.
The hosts doubled their lead eight minutes before the interval following some slick interplay around the box. Aljoscha Kemlein threaded a clever pass into debutant Lennart Karl, who took a sharp touch and dispatched a composed finish into the bottom-left corner to make it 2-0 at the break.
Malta emerged after halftime with greater intent, but their improvement was short-lived. Germany’s cutting edge – missing at moments in the first half – arrived in full force just past the hour mark. Bischof completed a stunning hat-trick by the 65th minute, with all three goals remarkably coming from outside the area. Karl then added his second two minutes later, drifting in from the right before curling a superb effort past Sargent to stretch the scoreline to 5-0.
Substitute Muhammed Damar wrapped up the rout in the 86th minute, netting his third goal at U21 level to seal a thoroughly miserable evening for Malta.
A statement win for Germany, who respond emphatically to last month’s disappointing international break. Free-flowing, confident, and clinical, Di Salvo’s side remain second in the group on nine points – three behind leaders Greece.
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