Reus and Kroos leave Irish reeling

Marco Reus and Toni Kroos scored twice each as Germany turned on the style in Dublin to hammer the Republic of Ireland 6-1 in Group C last night.

Booked for diving on the half-hour when he probably should have had a penalty, Reus popped up two minutes later to break the deadlock.

He struck again shortly before half-time with an unstoppable left-foot shot. Mesut Ozil scored a second-half penalty won by Miroslav Klose, who scored himself in the 58th minute.

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Substitute Kroos made it 5-0 with a volley before grabbing his second seven minutes from time as the Germans claimed their third win in three qualifiers. Ireland, who have three points from two matches, pulled a late goal back through Andy Keogh, but the humiliation was their worst home defeat since losing 5-0 to Spain in 1931.