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| Azerbaijan vs Germany |
Goals before half-time from Mesut Ozil and Mario Gomez gave them a seventh consecutive win in the group and left the future of Azerbaijan's German coach Berti Vogts hanging by a thread. Mused Huseynov pulled a consolation goal back in the closing stages before Andre Schurrle's third in stoppage time.
The Azeris had the first sight of goal when Aleksandr Chertoganov received the ball 25 yards from goal before fizzing his drive narrowly wide of Neuer in the German goal. Vugar Nadirov struck the bar in the 10th minute after Germany gave the ball away carelessly inside their own third.
Germany began to get into their stride on 18 minutes when Toni Kroos struck the post with a well-hit free-kick, having won the set-piece himself with an enterprising run at the Azeri defence out of nothing. Kroos threatened once again on 28 minutes when his shot was beaten away by Kamran Agayev.
Joachim Low's men shrugged off a sluggish beginning to take the lead on the half hour after a sustained spell of pressure. Benedikt Howedes did well to keep the ball in on the right-hand side. His cut-back evaded the tall figure of Mario Gomez at the near post, although it was retrieved by Mesut Ozil. Despite a difficult angle, the Real Madrid star found the corner of the net with an excellent finish for his fourth international goal.
After the first goal, Germany underlined their superiority by dominating proceedings and a second arrived four minutes prior to the break. Ozil latched onto an excellent through-ball from Holger Badstuber and he squared the ball into the centre of the box, where Mario Gomez was on hand to blast the ball home beyond a helpless Kamran Agayev. The Bayern Munich striker has now scored in four successive internationals.
Although penned in their own half for long periods, the home side had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside on 64 minutes. Vugar Nadirov was flagged for offside despite being level with the last defender and the winger then received a booking for stroking the ball into the net. Five minutes later, Gomez breached the offside trap but was brilliantly denied by Agayev, as he tried to round the goalkeeper.
Azerbaijan got a goal back just over two minutes from the end and it was no more than they deserved for their spirit and persistence. Germany switched off at the back with a comedy of errors and substitute striker Mused Huseynov swept the ball home from close range to cap an impressive cameo performance.
Andre Schurrle added a third for Germany deep into stoppage time after Mario Gotze had teed up Mario Gomez for the initial shot, with the Mainz man putting home the rebound.
Germany now have seven wins from seven games at the top of Group A. Three points in their next game against Austria will secure the top spot in the group. Azerbaijan are above bottom side Kazakhstan on goals scored and have a mere three points after six games.
