Hanover, Germany - Germany stayed on course for a World Cup qualifier showdown with Russia in Group 4 after beating Azerbaijan 4-0 in Hanover. Second-half substitute Miroslav Klose scored twice against a ten- man Azerbaijan, adding to the first half penalty by captain Michael Ballack. Lukas Podolski scored the final goal for his side late in the game.
Germany coach Joachim Loew started with Mario Gomez and Podolski upfront, with Bremen's Mesut Oezil playing behind them and for the first 15 minutes the home side completely dominated proceedings in front of 30,000 in the AWD-Arena, but then seemed to lose the plot.
Ballack said that the side started strongly. "But then we lost it a bit. What followed was very poor, but we did better in the second half.
"We did what we had to do. Now we face our most difficult game and we have to prepare well for the game in Russia."
The home side started well and Gomez fed Podolski in the 13th minute and the Cologne striker weaved his way into the penalty area, where he was brought down by Azerbaijan captain Samir Abbasov.
Greek referee Anastassios Kakos immediately pointed to the spot and Chelsea midfielder Ballack made no mistake, sending Kamran Agayev into the wrong corner.
Just two minutes later Agayev pulled off a world-class save when he dived to deny Gomez, who had a free header from close range, after being found by a pin-point Ballack cross.
Mahir Shukurov nearly grabbed an equalizer for the visitors in the 37th minute, only to see his effort from close range being saved by German goalkeeper Rene Adler.
Loew brought on Klose at the start of the second half for Gomez and the Bayern Munich forward had his first chance just two minutes after coming on, but missed the target.
Three minutes later Azerbaijan were down to 10 men when Abbasov brought down Klose and received his second booking of the match.
Agayev again pulled off a spectacular save from a Klose volley in the 53rd minute, but could do nothing two minutes later when the striker was set up by Philipp Lahm and found the net from nine metres.
Klose scored his second on the night and 47th for Germany in the 66th minute when he scored from an acute angle.
Podolski added a fourth in the 71st minute when Oezil found Ballack and the captain's header came to Podolski, whose shot gave Agayev no chance.
Loew said that he was not happy with his side's performance in the first half. "But after the break we came from the outside and our game was much better.
"Our qualifying campaign is on track and we have done well. I am confident for our match against Russia."
Azerbaijan coach Berti Vogts, who is a German World Cup winner, said the red card for his captain was the turning point for his side. "You can't play against a team like Germany with ten players.
"It is like playing against 11 robots. They are simply too strong and organized for that. I think we will give Russia a hard game in Baku in our final game."
The victory sees Germany top the group with 22 points from their eight games, while Russia, who beat Wales 3-1 in Cardiff on the night, are on 21 points from the same number of games.
The two teams will meet in Moscow on October 10, with the game going a long way towards deciding which team will qualify automatically for the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.
