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.

What does it mean? Germany strengthen position as Group J leaders

Flick's side opened up a healthy cushion at the top of Group J with just three matches remaining.

Their cause was aided by second-placed Armenia's failure to beat Iceland elsewhere in the group.

In fact, the draw also does Romania a favour as they remain in contention for second place and the chance to reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.

Muller makes his mark

Muller turned 32 last month but demonstrated that he still boasts tremendous reflexes in the penalty area.

The Bayern star moved seventh outright on Germany's all-time list for appearances and was in the right place at the right time to tuck away the winning goal.

Underwhelming Werner

Although involved in the early penalty incident, Werner endured an otherwise subdued match.

Indeed, his tallies of 24 touches and 19 passes were the lowest recorded by any of Germany's starting outfield players.

The Chelsea striker was substituted in the 67th minute having also seen both of his shots go off target.

What's next?

Both nations are back in action on Monday. Germany travel to North Macedonia, while Romania host Armenia.