UEFA WCQ Wrap: Mueller Grabs Late Winner As Germany Fight Back To Beat Romania

UEFA WCQ Wrap: Mueller Grabs Late Winner As Germany Fight Back To Beat Romania By Omolagba Oluwayemi Thomas Mueller rescued Germany with a late winner as the hosts came from behind to earn a nervous 2-1 win over Romania in Friday's World Cup qualifier to open a six point lead at the top of their group, BSNSports.com.ng reports. Romania took a shock ninth minute lead in Hamburg when Rangers winger Ianis Hagi ghosted through the defence and fired past Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, a late replacement for injured Manuel Neuer. The Romanians led 1-0 at the break, however Serge Gnabry equalised with his 20th goal in 30 internationals after 52 minutes. Mueller then came off the bench for his 107th Germany appearance to claim his 40th international goal nine minutes from time. The result extends Germany's lead at the top of Group J ahead of Monday's next qualifier away to North Macedonia. A win in Skopje would put the Germans on the brink of punching their World Cup ticket. Davy Klaassen scored the only goal as Netherlands beat Latvia 1-0 in Riga to extend their lead atop a tightly-contested World Cup qualifying group. Klaassen was unmarked at the back post to tuck away Memphis Depay's corner after 19 minutes, and while the Dutch did dominate with almost relentless attacks in the closing 20 minutes, Louis van Gaal's side was unable to win by a larger margin. Wales' enterprising display was not enough for victory against the Czech Republic as the two sides produced a thrilling 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw in Prague. Captain Aaron Ramsey's composed finish in an otherwise frenetic first half gave Wales a lead which lasted less than two minutes as Jakub Pesek scored on the rebound. The Czech Republic were gifted a bizarre second goal early in the second half as Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward failed to control a Ramsey backpass and allowed it to roll into the net. Wales responded in style as Daniel James equalised with an assured finish which sparked a period of intense Welsh pressure. An own goal by Slovakia defender Milan Skriniar handed Russia a 1-0 home win in their World Cup qualifier in Group H on Friday. In an attempt to clear the ball from the six-yard box, Skriniar sloppily deflected a dangerous cross by Arsen Zakharyan past goalkeeper Marek Rodak, handing Russia the lead in the 24th minute. Luka Modric and Croatia sealed a 3-0 win over Cyprus in their World Cup Qualifier match on Friday. The 36-year-old, who was just named to the 2021 Balon D’Or shortlist, played and captained for 84 minutes. Results Czech 2-2 Wales Estonia 2-0 Belarus Gibraltar 0-3 Montenegro Latvia 0-1 Netherlands Turkey 1-1 Norway Cyprus 0-3 Croatia Malta 0-4 Slovenia Russia 1-0 Slovakia Germany 2-1 Romania Iceland 1-1 Armenia Liechtenstein 0-4 North Macedonia