Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Germans dish out a battering
Germany 6 Norway 0
WORLD CHAMPIONS Germany thrashed Norway 6-0 in their Group C match on Monday, scoring four times in the first half including a Timo Werner double, to edge closer to a place at next year’s World Cup in Russia.
The Germans killed off the game in a whirlwind first half, scoring three times in the opening 21 minutes, and can wrap up qualification away to second-placed Northern Ireland on October 5.
It was one-way traffic from the start as Germany wanted to put last week’s scrappy 2-1 win in the Czech Republic behind them and Ozil’s 10th minute shot opened the floodgates.
Seconds later Toni Kroos should have doubled their lead but he fired over the bar. Draxler, however, made amends with a fine turn and low drive in the 17th during a frantic opening spell.
Werner made it 3-0 four minutes later with the Norwegians in a daze and the diminutive forward grabbed his second goal of the evening as he headed in a cross five minutes before the break.
Goretzka headed home Draxler’s cross in the 50th and fellow substitute Gomez had time to get on the scoresheet himself with yet another header to cap a dominant performance by the hosts.
Germany have now won 26 of their last 31 World
Cup qualifiers, having drawn the other five.
San Marino remain without a point after losing 5-1 in Azerbaijan, who scored five goals in a World Cup qualifier for the first time.