Germany 2-1 Romania: Substitute Muller completes Die Mannschaft turnaround

Thomas Muller scored the winner as Germany came from behind to defeat Romania 2-1 in Hamburg and move six points clear at the top of World Cup qualifying Group J.

The hosts fell behind to Ianis Hagi’s wonderful individual effort after just nine minutes at the Volksparkstadion.

But Serge Gnabry’s fifth goal of the qualifying campaign levelled matters, with Germany leaving it late to complete the turnaround.

Hansi Flick’s side did so nine minutes from time, substitute Muller marking his 107th international cap by turning home a corner at the far post.

Germany began brightly and thought they had a penalty when Timo Werner went over Andrei Burca in the fifth minute.

Although he initially pointed straight to the spot, referee Cuneyt Cakir eventually overturned his original decision following a lengthy consultation with VAR.

Just 52 seconds later, Romania took a surprise lead with Hagi embarking on a jinking run past Thilo Kehrer and Antonio Rudiger before firing past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

That was the first goal the hosts had conceded under Flick, but they almost equalised on 17 minutes as Gnabry narrowly failed to scramble the ball home following a mix-up in the visiting defence.

Yet there was no denying Gnabry seven minutes into the second half as the Bayen Munich winger fired in from the edge of the area after Leon Goretzka and Marco Reus combined to tee him up.

And Germany clinched all three points when Muller, on as a substitute for Werner, was left unmarked to turn into an empty net after Goretzka had flicked on Joshua Kimmich’s corner.