Georgia vs. Germany: Winners and Losers from Euro 2016 Qualifier
Germany picked up a straightforward, though important, Euro 2016 qualification victory over Georgia on Sunday evening as they won 2-0 in Tbilisi.
Marco Reus and Thomas Muller scored the goals in the first half, with the home side threatening more on the counter in the second period. A third win in their five qualifiers means Germany sit just a point behind Poland, the only undefeated side in Group D.
Here are all our winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Marco Reus
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Marco Reus scored one and hit the woodwork twice as he put in a very effective performance in a loose attacking role from the left for Germany.
In truth, he was free to roam all over, swapping especially with Mario Gotze, dropping in and out of the front attacking line to create danger and finding pockets of space to get his shots away.
His second start of this international break yielded a second goal, too, his ninth at international level for Germany. He is starting to look very much the man around whom the new-look Germany will build their attack.
Losers: Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger
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There was no "midfield battle" in the game this time around. Germany had almost all the first-half possession, and the second 45 minutes were rather more end to end. In neither of those halves, though, did returning captain Bastian Schweinsteiger show his enormous quality over modest opposition.
He struggled to keep up with the tempo after the break and was bypassed as the home side played directly and ran past him, and his passing was oddly off-key in the first half.
Kroos, alongside him, made a number of poor set-piece deliveries and was also not as offensively aggressive as he could have been.
With Sami Khedira performing well in the earlier friendly against Australia and the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Christoph Kramer also involved, midfield berths are certainly up for grabs if the regulars don't put in top-notch displays.
Winner: Sebastian Rudy
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Sebastian Rudy was given the nod at right-back ahead of Benedikt Howedes for Germany, doubtless with Jogi Low expecting him to get forward to provide another offensive outlet for the team.
He did exactly that, keeping the width of the pitch high up the right flank and overlapping Thomas Muller, who cut infield, to provide a quick one-two option or to hit the byline and make a cut-back. Several times he set up shooting chances, including for Reus to hit the bar once.
Defensively, he challenged well as Georgia counter-attacked, and he made a good case for future inclusion.
Losers: Georgia, Who Are All but out
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Georgia might not have been expected to have any kind of impact at the European Championship qualification stage, but the increased number of spots for teams to go through likely gave them some small glimmer of hope to cause an upset.
With just one win from their first five games, though, those hopes have been extinguished.
They played well for the most part against Germany, defending aggressively in numbers and counter-attacking when they could, but sitting seven points off the pace at this stage is too much. They'll simply need to beat Gibraltar and build for their next campaign.
Winner: Jogi Low
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After a less-than-spectacular start to qualification and the 2-2 draw with Australia during the week, Germany manager Jogi Low needed to make sure his side won the match in Georgia.
Having won the World Cup less than a year ago, he was hardly under pressure to lose his job, but there was still an air of expectation that his side should be dominating the group.
So far, they haven't.
The 2-0 win was good on many levels, then, with a clean sheet, a strong-looking defence against set pieces and counter-attacks and a professional level of dominance for his side against a team intent on frustrating in the early spells. Germany still don't sit top, but things are looking far better now than they were a couple of games back.
