'New era' as Germany end on World Cup high in Armenia

Yerevan (AFP) – Thomas Mueller said that Germany have begun a new era under Hansi Flick after his side finished their World Cup qualification campaign on a high with a 4-1 win over Armenia on Sunday.

“It’s a new era for us since the change of coach, and we’ve been doing a lot of good work,” Mueller told RTL.

Germany have hit form since Flick took over from Joachim Loew earlier this year, and have scored 31 goals in seven successive wins since a disappointing European Championships. 

Having already secured qualification for next year’s tournament in October, Sunday’s win meant they finished nine points clear at the top of Group J.

“We have to say that there weren’t any huge teams in our group, but we have done the job and we can go into next year on a high now,” said Mueller. 

Kai Havertz scored an elegant opener for Germany on 15 minutes, flicking in a cross from Jonas Hofmann with the outside of his left boot. 

Despite having almost 80 percent of possession in the first half hour, Germany were starved of space and struggled to create clear chances before the break. 

They needed a penalty to double their lead on the stroke of half time, Ilkay Gundogan converting from 12 yards after a foul on Florian Neuhaus in the box. 

Gundogan got a cheap second goal early in the second half when Armenia goalkeeper Stanislav Buchnev fumbled his soft shot from outside the box. 

The hosts pulled a goal back to raucous celebrations ten minutes later, Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring from the spot after Neuhaus brought down David Terteyan. 

But Germany remained in complete control, and Jonas Hofmann restored their three goal lead just five minutes later with a smart finish into the bottom corner.