Brentford man invisible in his country's 2-0 win over European minnows

By Alessandro Schiavone at Stade de Luxembourg

Luxembourg 0-2 Germany

Goals: Woltemade 49', 69' (G)

Less than a week after scoring in Brentford's 3-1 win over Nick Woltemade's Newcastle United, Kevin Schade was lucky to have him as the Magpies behemoth netted a double to save Germany's blushes in a 2-0 win over Group A basement side Luxembourg.

It was an unconvincing victory with the Germans making hard work of it all in the first-half when the Brentford winger was still on the bench.

Schade came on in the 66th minute with Germany 1-0 up after Woltemade had made the most of Leroy Sané's delivery to tap home for his laborious side just after the sides were changed.

And the ex-VFB Stuttgart centre-forward went on to double the lead after collecting a pass from Baku before holding off desperate late challenges and stabbing home three minutes after Schade's introduction.

Yesterday was Luxembourg all over.

Anything but risk-averse, Jeff Strasser's side decided to throw caution to the wind at the cost of leaving themselves exposed in transition.

And they outplayed the four-time World Cup winners in the early stages.

Yet once again they could not buy a goal when they got sight of it.

Danel Sinani missed the target from range  and had another one saved by Oliver Baumann. In between, Dardari curled one wide.

Germany looked disinterested and relied on individual brilliance. Just that Wirtz is anything but brilliant right now. And he did nothing to silence his critics when he sent one over from just outside the box and one another effort into Anthony Moris' palms.

Luxembourg failed to reap the rewards their enterprising and audacious play warranted.

And the start of the second period was a reflection of the first 45 minutes with Dardari coming agonizingly close once again.

Waltemade's opener was a punch in the gut for the battling Luxembourgers and brought back déja-vu nightmares.

Just as against Slovakia two months ago they ticked all the boxes such as creativity, quick-footed interplay and getting numbers and the ball in the box.

But locating the ball in the net has been their true undoing once again.

And the writing was on the wall once they fell behind as they failed to show a reaction.

The new St James' Park favourite then put the game to bed with a poacher's finish into the top corner.

Schade drew a foul from Sinani minutes after replacing Serge Gnabry. That's virtually all he did.

Luxembourg were tiring fast as they were heading for a fifth defeat on the bounce in the World Cup qualifiers.

Level on points with Slovakia at the top but boasting a better goal difference, the Germans now have fate in their own hands going into the final game.

A win or a draw will do. But a repeat of the  2-0 defeat in Bratislava in the reverse fixture would condemn Schade and company to unwanted playoffs in March.