There was drama in first-half stoppage time, when VAR officials encouraged referee François Letexier to view the pitchside monitor, following Taron Voskanyan’s challenge on Florian Neuhaus inside the box. A penalty was awarded, and İlkay Gündoğan dispatched the subsequent spot-kick with ease to make it 2-0 to ‘Die Mannschaft’ at HT.
The second half began with a gift for Gündoğan just five minutes after the restart, when his tame shot from the edge of the box inexplicably slipped through Buchnev’s grasp to make it 3-0. But there was a sting in the tail, as Neuhaus was involved in a penalty decision at the other end of the pitch, after his challenge on Davit Terteryan saw Letexier point to the spot once more. Skipper Henrikh Mkhitaryan stepped up to score from 12 yards past Marc-André ter Stegen just a minute shy of the hour mark. The hosts’ joy was short lived though, and Hofmann ruthlessly punished some indecisive Armenian defending with a clinical finish past Buchnev at his near post in the 65th minute.
Despite already planning for Qatar before play, Germany finished off their qualification campaign in style as runaway Group H winners with nine victories from ten games, while Armenia can reflect on a respectable fourth-place finish.
