Germany took a step towards World Cup qualification with a narrow win over Northern Ireland, but looked far from comfortable at Windsor Park.
Nick Woltemade’s first senior Germany goal secured his side a vital 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in World Cup qualifying on Monday.
In a tight Group A, Germany moved top of the table thanks to the narrow win, with their hosts’ hopes of reaching the World Cup taking a hit at Windsor Park.
It was almost a dream start for Northern Ireland as Sunderland’s Dan Ballard poked a close-range shot into the roof of the net after meeting Paddy McNair’s knockdown, but the offside flag quickly cut the celebrations short.
Germany then broke the deadlock in the 31st minute with their first shot on target; David Raum’s whipped corner deflected into the far side of the net off the back of Woltemade.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side came out of the blocks quickly in the second half, with Karim Adeyemi bending a shot wide of the left post while one-on-one with Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
Shea Charles then forced Oliver Baumann into a fine stop with his feet shortly before the hour, and moments later, the goalkeeper had to tip Ethan Galbraith’s low drive wide.
Germany stepped up the pressure in an attempt to get a second, but Peacock-Farrell did well to push Serge Gnabry’s shot away from the top-right corner.
Northern Ireland kept pushing for an equalizer until the final whistle without any luck, with Callum Marshall’s saved volley the closest they came.
Michael O’Neill became just the second manager to take charge of 100+ matches for Northern Ireland, after Billy Bingham, and also the second to lose that milestone outing.
The hosts put the game to Germany without much of an end product. It was just the second time in Germany’s last 10 games that they did not face a single shot on target in the first half.
Woltemade had the telling touch; he is only the second Newcastle United player to score for Germany after Dietmar Hamann, who also scored in an away game against Northern Ireland (March 1999).
