Germany stretched their lead over Russia in World Cup qualifying by comfortably beating Azerbaijan 2-0 on Wednesday.

Goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose took

Germany four points clear of their chief Group Four rivals

Russia, who have a game in hand.

"We completed our mission and got the three points," said

Germany coach Joachim Loew. "But we had some problems as we

lacked rhythm and keeping the same pace for 90 minutes."

"It is important to improve as there are still nine points

up for grabs," said Loew.

Azerbaijan, under former Germany coach Berti Vogts, gave the

visitors an early scare when they beat the off-side trap but

failed to finish properly. The Germans then took command when

Schweinsteiger fired a thundering left-footed drive into the top

corner.

Klose, who somehow missed an open goal with a header from

two metres on the stroke of half-time, made amends following the

restart with an almost identical header after the ball had

bounced off the bar from a Mario Gomez shot.

After Schweinsteiger's spectacular finish in the 12th

minute, Piotr Trochowski could have doubled the German lead when

he connected with a deep cross but his header flew just wide.

The speedy midfielder caused considerable confusion in the

Azeri defence, floating free kicks and corners into the box for

the taller Germans, including captain Michael Ballack and

striker Gomez.

While far from convincing, with most players only now

starting their season, Germany were never really threatened by

their opponents, who have yet to score in this campaign.

The group winners qualify for the finals in South Africa

next year, with the eight best runners-up going through to a

two-legged play-off.