Germany 4-0 Kazakhstan: Hosts maintain perfect record with easy win over minnows

Germany defeated Kazakhstan 4-0 in Kaiserslautern to increase their lead at the top of Group A to four points and maintain their 100 per cent record in impressive fashion.

The rout began when Miroslav Klose tapped in from close range after good work from Bastian Schweinsteiger in little under three minutes.

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Returns:

Armenia £16.50

Draw £35.00

Kazakhstan £47.50

The Germans went further ahead when Thomas Mueller headed in Mesut Ozil’s swinging cross and The Bayern Munich attacker got his second when he beat the offside trap to lash home before the break.

Klose completed the rout with Germany's fourth goal in the 89th minute with another simple finish.

Before tonight’s game, coach Joachim Loew insisted that a win tonight wouldn’t be enough against Kazakhstan, but a good performance to complement the three points would be imperative. That statement proved accurate in under 160 seconds at the Fritz Walter Stadion, when Bastian Schweinsteiger’s delivery to the back post was perfect enough for Bayern team-mate Miroslav Klose to tap-in his 60th international goal to edge the Germans in front.

Die Mannschaft could have - and perhaps should have - scored a second just after 14 minutes when good play from Mueller and Philipp Lahm saw the full-back first leave two Kazakh defenders reeling, before Mueller pulled play back to the captain who then narrowly chipped over, a testament to the dynamic attacking football Germany had quickly settled into.

The ambush on visiting goalkeeper David Loria’s goal continued when Lukas Podolski’s drive was expertly kept out after Mueller had burst through to lay off for the Koeln striker.

Sergey Khiznichenko’s failed to chase a through ball from midfield in what was Kazakhstan’s first real attacking foray, with Per Mertesacker snuffing out the opportunity and the Germans then notched their second moments later with Mesut Ozil’s inswinging cross was headed in clinically by Mueller.

Loria’s busy evening continued as the Kazakh 'keeper superbly foiled a double attempt by Klose to increase the lead. Firstly, Renat Abdulin’s failure to nullify the attacking threat posed by Germany ensured the ball was played to Klose whose point-blank shot was kept out by Loria, and the subsequent follow-up was denied by the goalkeeper’s legs as Miroslav Beranek’s side struggled to contain the home team.

Kazakhstan’s misery was compounded by the brilliant young attack-minded Germans who had virtually kept the ball in the opposite area for the entire half.

Poor defending from the Kazakhs played Mueller onside, and the World Cup golden boot winner latched on to Oezil’s cross to lash home his second of the night.

The domination continued into the second half as Klose swiftly broke into the area, but alert defending had stopped the veteran striker adding to his tally. Sami Khedira also missed his chance as Mueller pinned the ball back to the Real Madrid midfielder, but he couldn’t keep up with the ball.

Substitute Mario Gomez, on for Podolski, almost made an immediate impact when he fired agonisingly wide from an excellent cross by Lahm.

Kazakhstan’s best chance came and went in the 71st minute as substitute Zhambyl Kukeyev took advantage of Mertesacker’s vulnerability but the powerful shot could only hit the upright and go out for a goal-kick. The Werder Bremen defender was further tormented by Kukeyev’s pace, but this time the referee waved away penalty claims after the Kazakh went down inside the area.

Klose should’ve tucked the ball away for a fourth after sub Mario Goetze squared the ball to him, but the striker couldn’t find the space to fire a shot.

The fourth goal eventually came a minute from time though when Khedira pulled back unselfishly for Klose to score his 61st international goal - just seven away from Gerd Muller's record - in a comfortable night for Jogi Loew's team.

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