Mlapa treble helps Germany overwhelm San Marino

Peniel Mlapa helped himself to a first-half hat-trick as Germany strengthened their stranglehold on UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 1 with an emphatic defeat of San Marino.

Rainer Adrion's side had already completed a comprehensive victory against the same opponents last month, but this time they went one better than that 7-0 rout, rattling five unanswered goals past Mattia Manzaroli in the first half alone.

Mlapa took just half an hour to net his treble, scoring twice inside the opening five minutes and pausing momentarily to allow Moritz Leitner to make it 3-0 before completing his night's work. An added-time effort by Maximilian Beister at the end of the first half exacerbated the hosts' problems, although they restricted Germany to three goals after the break, two of which came from Alexander Esswein, either side of Daniel Ginczek's strike.

After five wins on the spin Germany are eight points clear of second-placed Belarus, who have a game in hand, and nine ahead of their next opponents, Greece, who have played too matches fewer and host the section leaders on 11 November.