Németh heads Hungary romp

Hungary reached the UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite round for the fifth successive season as three victories, and 12 goals - seven of them from Krisztián Németh - secured first place in Group 7 while Azerbaijan held off Armenia to claim the runners-up berth amd advance for the only time in this competition.

Németh class
Peter Varhidi's side opened their campaign in Larnaca in impressive fashion, sweeping aside the mini-tournament hosts 3-1. Németh and Balázs Farkas gave Hungary a two-goal cushion at the interval and, although Kostas Markou pulled a goal back for Cyprus a minute before the hour, 17-year-old Németh - who has already scored five 1. Liga goals this season for MTK Budapest - made the game safe with his second and Hungary's third ten minutes later. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, bounced back from falling behind to Simyon Muradyan's 44th-minute goal for Armenia as second-half strikes from Farid Hashim-Zada and Nizami Hajiyev turned the match on its head.

Hungary romp
It was a different story for Azerbaijan in the second round of matches, however, as they fell to a 5-0 defeat against Hungary. Farkas and Németh again found the net before the interval and Hungary ran away with the game in the final 22 minutes as Attila Filkor got one before Németh added two more to complete his hat-trick. Armenia duly revived their own qualification hopes by defeating Cyprus in Paralimni, Aram Bareghamyan getting the only goal of the game six minutes past the hour.

Final flourish
Although their progress was already assured, Hungary refused to let up and duly overwhelmed Armenia 4-1 at in Larnaca to make sure of first place. Németh - who scored eleven goals in last season's U17 competition - again did most of the damage with two goals early in the second period before substitute Márk Mészáros and Farkas got in on the act, although Gevorg Ghazaryan's consolation at least ensured Armenia had the last word on the night while Hungary ended with ten men as Sandor Nagy picked up a second booking late on.

Azeri satisfaction
Armenia's defeat meant Azerbaijan needed just a point to secure their place in the Elite round draw on 5 December, and Arif Asadovs side looked well set for all three when Nizami Hajiyev opened the scoring in the 29th minute. Substitute Chrysostomos Kalos replied for the hosts a minute past the hour, however, but Cypriot hopes of snatching victory were effectively ended by Georgios Tofas's straight red card five minutes from time and Azerbaijan held firm to secure progress, having previously fallen at the opening stage in 12 previous attempts at U19 and U18 level.