Löw praises Sané and Gnabry's "beautiful goals"

Germany coach Joachim Löw hailed Leroy Sané's strike in last night's 3-0 friendly win over Russia as "beautiful" after the Manchester City winger scored his first international goal. Sané's opener and his all-action performance made a mockery of Löw's decision to exclude him from Germany's World Cup squad earlier in the year, while Niklas Süle and Serge Gnabry also scored on a much-needed night of positivity for Die Mannschaft.

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Germany in control

Löw said he was happy to see his players create goals from deep positions after Sané and Gnabry benefitted from some impressive long passes from midfield before scoring. "We had a good first period, we controlled the game well," the coach told reporters after the match in Leipzig. "In previous matches we were criticised for not playing from deep. Here we have been able to do it in a few situations. We have created a dynamic and built two beautiful goals in this way. In the second period, when we made a lot of changes, we lost some flow, it's normal. Our occupation of the field was not as good."

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Havertz makes first start

Löw praised Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Kai Havertz, who contributed to a dominant team performance on his full Germany debut and provided an assist for Gnabry to score the third goal. The 19-year-old has netted three times in 11 Bundesliga appearances this season and previously came on as a late substitute in Germany's 2-1 friendly win over Peru in September. "He impressed me today," said Löw. "He is very secure on the ball and has good positioning going forward."

Russia taken by surprise

Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov admitted his side had been taken by surprise after Germany's fast start to the game. He said: "In the second half we saw that we could play well. In the first period we were not prepared at the rate imposed by Germany. They played more aggressively than us."