Germany poacher Müller makes Portugal pay

Thomas Müller hit a hat-trick as Germany made a statement of intent in FIFA World Cup Group G by downing ten-man Portugal 4-0 in Salvador.

The result seldom looked in doubt after Müller opened his account from the spot and Mats Hummels powered in a second. Portugal had barely caught their breath when Pepe saw red for an altercation with Müller, who completed the first-half scoring. Hummels was forced off with a knee injury during a calmer second period before Müller became only the sixth German to complete a World Cup treble. Later on Monday, the United States beat Germany's Saturday opponents Ghana 2-1.

Paulo Bento's side had started positively as Cristiano Ronaldo scurried down the left and sent a low shot bouncing off Manuel Neuer, but the cracks soon appeared. After Sami Khedira failed to find an empty net from Rui Patrício's errant clearance, defender Bruno Alves pulled down Mario Götze in the penalty area. Müller found the corner with precision.

Portugal were wobbling and almost fell further behind when Götze combined with Mesut Özil and fired off target via a deflection. The threat remained, though, Hummels heading Toni Kroos' resulting corner imperiously past Patrício. A red card for Pepe added to the Selecção's woes and Müller showed no mercy on the stroke of half-time, pouncing on Alves' clearance and sweeping under Patrício.

Götze had the Portugal back line scrambling again four minutes after the interval with a judiciously-weighted pass for Özil, whose low finish was beaten away as he bore down on goal. Germany's afternoon was soured by an injury to Hummels, but Müller had the last word as he followed up André Schürrle's parried cross with 12 minutes remaining.