N. Ireland 0-2 Germany: 3 Talking Points | UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers

Germany picked up three points after overseeing Northern Ireland's first defeat of the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign. The visitors continued their good run in Belfast as they ended up 2-0 winners over the resilient hosts.

By all accounts, Germany were supposed to be made to earn their three points against an inspired Northern Ireland, and that's exactly what happened. The hosts began the night on the front foot. They ran the game against Germany for large parts of the game, but the four-time World Cup winners looked to threaten the hosts early on through some good counter-attacking football.

N. Ireland went close numerous times in the first half but couldn't put their chances away. As the football gods would have it, they were punished for it early in the second half. Germany were squandering most of their chances as well, till RB Leipzig's Marcel Halstenberg got on the scoreboard with a sweet volleyed strike.

Steven Davis and co rallied once again to try and make life difficult for the German defence, but the visitors were a more cohesive unit in the second half. Going forward, they were still dangerous in attack but didn't seal victory till the 92nd minute when substitute Kai Havertz released Gnabry. The Bayern Munich forward was able to squeeze home a goal from an incredibly tight angle to ensure Germany's win to top the group.

Joshua Kimmich is wasted in midfield

Kimmich can play multiple positions but his best role is right-back

Once again, Joachim Low started the Bayern Munich full-back in the centre of the park at the base of a midfield three. He's accustomed to the position and does a fair job of playing there when deployed there for both club and country.

However, with the potency of his delivery while playing at right-back, the shift to the middle takes a lot of what's good about Joshua Kimmich's play out of the game. He's a reflection of former German captain Philipp Lahm in the sense that he is technically well suited to both positions. Kimmich is, however, a much more effective right-back than defensive midfielder at this stage of his career.

Germany lack chemistry

Toni Kroos is one of the few remaining familiar faces in the changed Germany side

The issues with this Germany side are plenty, be it the lack of availability of a lot of players at the moment, or this transitional phase where Low figures out the best set of players to wear the Germany shirt consistently. It all seems to stem from the Germans not being able to pull together as a unit.

There is bags of talent in this German team, as far as individual players are concerned. However, there is little that works for them, especially in the middle fo the park. There are glaring flaws going forward as well as while defending against even some of the relatively smaller sides.

This team will have to develop that understanding before they can challenge some of the top sides and get back into the reckoning for titles. The big question is, whether they will be able to do so before the Euro 2020 kicks off.

Northern Ireland could really compete for top spots

N. Ireland couldn't take anything against Germany on the day, but they'll try again in the reverse fixture

Despite winning every single game in qualifying prior to this and leading the group with 12 points, there was a question mark that hung over N. Ireland. Their toughest fixtures, against Germany and Netherlands, were yet to come in the calendar. It became difficult to judge them based only off playing the relatively weaker sides as they would almost definitely need results against Germany or the Netherlands to qualify from this group.

Prior to this game, there was not much faith in their ability to get those points against bigger sides. However, their stellar display against Germany should fill them with the hope that they will be able to sneak points in the return fixture and possibly against Netherlands as well. The Irish are not too far from being a top side. They work well together and play well going forward and defending as a team.

If they can add some edge to their attack, they would really be in business.