GERMANY THRASH ENGLAND 4-1 TO ENTER QUARTERFINALS
Baku, June 27 (AZERTAC). Thomas Mueller scored twice as Germany thrashed England 4-1 in their World Cup second round match to book a quarterfinal berth.
Mueller scored in the 67th and the 70th minute to extend Germany`s lead to 4-1.
Goals from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski gave Germany a 2-1 lead.
England trailed Germany 2-1 at half-time after being denied an equaliser by a serious blunder by the match officials.
Matthew Upson headed England back into the match after Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski had given Germany a two-goal advantage.
And England should have been level at the break after a Frank Lampard shot bounced off the underside of the bar and landed a yard over the goal-line.
Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda, who was well-placed to see the incident, looked at his linesman and then waved play on.
Germany had the better of the chances and might have been ahead as early as the fourth minute.
Bastian Schweinsteiger`s chip put Mesut Ozil in behind England`s back four but the first touch of the rising star of the German side was poor and he ended up shooting from an acute angle, enabling David James to block his shot at the near post.
A litany of defensive errors enabled Klose to get on the end of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer`s upfield punt to give Germany the lead.
John Terry allowed the ball to fly over his head and Klose outmuscled and outpaced Upson before flicking the ball past James with the outside of his boot.
Germany deservedly grabbed a second with Thomas Mueller doing the damage. Taking Klose`s first-time pass, the Bayern Munich midfielder broke into the box before switching the ball to Podolski, who beat James at his near post from a tight angle.
Neuer pulled off a superb reflex save at close range to prevent Lampard finishing off James Milner`s low cross just before Upson gave England a lifeline.
Germany`s goalkeeper had been impressive up to then but his lack of experience showed when he charged off his line and got nowhere near the cross from Steven Gerrard that the West Ham defender nodded in.
######
Other news in this section
