First Half
Germany had their chances early on in the game. Lukas Podolski, who had a great night tried to put the hosts in front early on but his shot just missed and went over the goal post. Miroslav Klose was fouled outside the penalty box but Podolski’s shot from the resulting free-kick was wide.
Podolski sent a great ball into the box close to the half-hour mark. Heiko Westermann’s header was fisted out by the Azerbaijan keeper and Klose recovered possession in front of goal. He decided to not shoot, but unselfishly pass to Heiko Westermann. Westermann missed the target but Sami Khedira, who also had a good outing, recovered the ball in front of the net. He decided that Westermann deserved the goal and passed the ball to his teammate who duly scored.
Azerbaijan had a chance to equalize but a long distance effort was saved well by Manuel Neuer. Close to the end of the first half, Mesut Oezil and Podolski played a nice one-two between each other and Podolski fired in for 2-0. Just before the whistle was blown, Podolski picked a wonderful ball from Holger Badstuber and passed to Klose. Klose netted his 54th international goal.
The first-half virtually ended the game as a contest. At the beginning minutes of the game, Per Mertesacker had to leave the field following an elbow to his face and was taken off for Westermann. Sascha Riether played in Jansen’s left-back berth today.
Second Half
Sami Khedira’s cross was knocked in by Rashad Sadygov for an own goal. However, Germany conceded a goal shortly afterwards. A header from Vagif Dzhavadov was put in by Manuel Neuer. The goal was given to Dzhavadov and not to Neuer. Germany continued to pile forward and their finishing seemed to be getting sloppier as the half went on. Marko Marin missed a few good chances and some of Podolski’s hard work wasn’t rewarded due to poor finishing.
Cacau came on for Bastian Schweinsteiger while Marko Marin replaced Thomas Mueller.
Towards the end, Badstuber scored his first international goal. He headed in from a corner which was a rare sight as Germany had been sloppy from set pieces for most of the game. Miro Klose finished emphatically from a Lukas Podolski pass to end the game.
