Leon Goretzka Powers Germany to 2017 Confederations Cup Final in Win vs. Mexico

Germany will meet Chile in Sunday's 2017 Confederations Cup final after Leon Goretzka's two-minute brace helped steer the world champions to a 4-1 win over Mexico on Thursday evening. 

Goretzka's double after eight minutes and Timo Werner's 59th-minute goal soothed any tensions, but Mexico had by far the majority of the chances and finally scored through Marco Fabian's 89th-minute free-kick.

Substitute Amin Younes came off the bench to complete a clinical win for manager Joachim Low's side in injury time and proved the more accurate team deserved to advance to the final at Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Chile defeated Portugal 3-0 in a penalty shootout on Wednesday following a 0-0 stalemate at the Kazan Arena, a performance that will hardly have boosted their confidence ahead of a meeting with the world champions in the final.

Striker Werner may be the speed demon among Germany's ranks, but it was Goretzka who moved quickest to divert an innocuous-looking pass inside Mexico's far left post from outside the box after six minutes.

It was, however, no new territory for Mexico, as explained by ESPN FC's Tom Marshall, with manager Juan Carlos Osorio's side having formed a habit of staging comebacks of late:

But their hopes of crafting another were rolled back even further when Werner's through ball led to Goretzka beating a staggered Mexico offside trap to slip across a second in two minutes, inside the same far left post.

As well as thrusting his side into a commanding position early in the stages of their semi, it clinched him a glossy record for Germany, in just his eighth senior appearance, per OptaFranz:

The Dos Santos brothers, Giovani and Jonathan, forced a couple of good saves out of Marc-Andre ter Stegen on the half-hour mark, but El Tri were consistently repelled in their efforts to break down their opponents.

They eventually grew in strength and actually finished the first half as the more oppressive of the two teams as they threw assets forward in a bid to get off the mark before the interval.

But it wasn't enough to penetrate Germany's barrier as a back three of Joshua Kimmich, Antonio Rudiger and Matthias Ginter stood firm against a familiar face in Bayer Leverkusen striker Javier Hernandez.

But Low's half-time words of encouragement swiftly steered Germany back into the ascendancy after the restart, and after missing several close efforts, Werner tapped in Jonas Hector's unselfish pass to continue a prolific year:

The RB Leipzig attacker's goal set Germany's mind at ease in the knowledge they could now afford to sit back, although Osorio's men continued to knock away at Ter Stegen's door.

Goretzka went off to a hero's ovation in the 67th minute, with his side leading by three goals and his spirits through the roof heading into a major international final as likely favourites.

Ter Stegen continued to demonstrate his importance to the cause with saves from Miguel Layun and Rafael Marquez, proving to be the difference between Germany's clean sheet and a glimmer of a comeback emerging.

Not even the Barcelona stopper could prevent Raul Jimenez from looping his header onto the crossbar following a piece of Hirving Lozano string-pulling, though that was as close as El Tri remained in their quest for a goal.

Werner's strike stunted Mexico, but the scoreline somewhat flattered Germany, who welcomed more than 20 shots from El Tri, and ESPN's James Tyler told of how the stats told a different tale:

And their persistence finally bore fruit in the 89th minute, when Hector Herrera laid Fabian off for a rocketed finish from outside the area from a free-kick, igniting a fire in Mexico that we all somehow always knew would be coming.

But Ajax winger Younes—10 minutes after coming on for his fourth Germany cap since making his debut 23 days ago—punished El Tri again after they left too much side inside the left side of their box.

Germany's unbeaten run through the Confederations Cup will come to a crescendo against Chile on Sunday, where they'll be looking to win a maiden title in the competition.

Die Mannschaft have already bettered their all-time best third-place finish in the tournament, but crowning this year's run by taking top spot on the podium would pose as a great signal ahead of next year's World Cup.