Marco Reus calls for caution after Germany's 8-0 win vs Estonia

Germany's Marco Reus (left) celebrates scoring against Estonia on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

Marco Reus warned Germany not to get ahead of themselves after they maintained a perfect record in their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with a thundering 8-0 victory over Estonia in Mainz on Tuesday. Underdogs Estonia were helpless against a bright young Germany side who appeared to have left last year's World Cup woes far behind them as they rampaged to a third win from three games in Group C. Yet Reus told broadcaster RTL he and his team had to be "realistic".

"Opponents like this are not the benchmark for us. It was important for us to get into a rhythm and get to know each other better on the pitch, but we have to stay realistic," he said. Captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, meanwhile, said the team could be "proud" of their dominant performance on Tuesday.

The floodgates opened on ten minutes when Ilkay Gundogan started a slick move which saw Reus fire in the opener. The goal set the tone for the rest of the first half, as Gundogan and Joshua Kimmich tormented the Estonian back line with devastating through balls. Gundogan was the orchestrator again when Gnabry doubled the lead, and Germany were 3-0 up after 20 minutes Leon Goretzka flicked in a floating ball from Kimmich.

The fourth goal would have been almost identical to the third had Joonas Tamm not hauled Goretzka to the ground inside the box. As it was, Gundogan smashed in the resulting penalty. Come the 37th minute, it was Reus' turn again, the Borussia Dortmund star finding the bottom corner with a fizzing free-kick from 20 metres.

Gnabry slotted home his second just after the hour mark, before substitute Timo Werner added a seventh with a dainty finish. By that point, Leroy Sane was the only German left with a frown on his face, after having two goals unjustly ruled out for offside. Sane finally got his goal shortly before time, rifling in his side's eighth goal on 88 minutes. Germany's next qualifier sees them host old rivals the Netherlands in Hamburg on September 6.

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