Coming into the contest on the back of three wins from their last four internationals, Michael O’Neill’s side looked determined to continue their momentum against Die Nationalelf.
The early stages were closely fought, with Florian Wirtz and Aleksandar Pavlović firing efforts off target for the visitors, while at the other end, Northern Ireland had the ball in the net, only for VAR to disallow the goal for an offside against Paddy McNair.
Germany looked to up the ante as the first half progressed, and their pressure was rewarded shortly after the half-hour mark when David Raum’s corner went in off Nick Woltemade’s back for the striker’s first senior international goal.
The Green and White Army pressed for a response before HT, but Jamie Reid spurned a glorious chance on the stroke of the interval, directing a close-range strike wastefully over the bar.
Grateful for that reprieve, Germany came flying out the blocks at the start of the second period, and they should have doubled their lead when Karim Adeyemi curled narrowly wide after being played clean through by Wirtz.
There were further opportunities at both ends of the pitch, with Shea Charles seeing a low effort thwarted by Oliver Baumann, before Bailey Peacock-Farrell reacted smartly to push Serge Gnabry’s angled strike around the post.
Roared on by the raucous home support, Northern Ireland continued to probe for a late equaliser, as Ethan Galbraith fired agonisingly over from range and substitute Callum Marshall saw a close-range strike repelled by Baumann.
However, despite their best efforts, the Green and White Army were unable to breach the visitors’ rearguard, with Die Nationalelf holding firm to secure an 11th consecutive H2H victory over Northern Ireland.
Flashscore Man of the Match: David Raum (Germany)