The United Devils - Manchester United News

Germany put in an imperious performance to put Slovakia to the sword and show off their Euro 2016 winning credentials. There was no need for extra time, penalties or late winners need for the Germans who were just too good for Slovakia to cope with.

It didn't take long for the Germans to show what they can do. On the 8th minute Jerome Boateng put Germany ahead with a deflected volley. The Slovakian's were facing a near impossible challenge to get anything from Germany before the game had hit the 10 minute mark. 5 minutes later Liverpool's Martin Skrtel pushed Mario Gomez to the ground to concede a penalty. Mesut Ozil had the chance to double Germany's lead but he saw his penalty saved by Kozacik in the Slovakia goal. The 2nd Arsenal player to miss a penalty in the space of 27 hours at Euro 2016. Germany continued their dominance despite the miss and doubled their lead with Julian Draxler setting up the much criticised Mario Gomez who made no mistake to give Germany a 2-0 lead going into the break.

The commanding lead allowed Germany manager Joachim Low to shuffle his pack and give some of his players a rest ahead of a quarter final tie against Spain or Italy. Germamy were in cruise control for the second half. Demonstrating their impressive game management and ruthless efficiency not allowing Slovakia to get back into the game. Germany were able to rap up the win with a third goal. Julian Draxler tapping in from close range after some lazy defending from Slovakia from a Germany corner. Slovakia showing the world how not to defend zonaly from set pieces. Extremly poor from the Slovaks.

This was the perfect performance from Germany who laid down a real marker at Euro 2016. It was a performance of total domination and ultimate professionalism. Once again the real standout performer was Toni Kroos who dominated the game completing 87 passes in the game with 53 of those passed forward. Once again a dominant performance from Kroos but a progressive one with over half of his passes forward and not square. The defence of Germany was much criticised before the tournemant but Germany are the only team at Euro 2016 yet to concede a goal. Germany's scoring record is only bettered by the surprise package of the tournemant Wales. Germany have this incredible nack of finding ways to win at tournemants and they are showing it yet again. They are so difficult to play against in every way which is why they have to now be the favourites to win this competition as no other team can boast such strength in all area'a of the pitch.
Slovakia will be pleased to have reached the last 16 and it was always going to be a step to far against the imperious Germans despite their friendly win over Germany before the tournemant. They will be disappointed with their defensive performance in this game with Martin Skrtel showing exactly why Jurgen Klopp wants to show him the door at Liverpool. Skrtel put in a performance of reckless ameaturish defending that put his team under pressure throughout the game. It was incredibly poor for a player who has managed to play at a club like Liverpool for 8 years but perhaps todays performance shows why Liverpool have struggled so much at the back in recent years with Skrtel at the heart of their defence.