On-fire Reds thrash sorry Dortmund in top clash

FC Bayern downed Borussia Dortmund 5-0 on Saturday evening, reclaiming top spot in the table and taking a giant stride towards the championship title. Former Dortmund men Mats Hummels and Robert Lewandowski set Bayern on their way to victory early in the first half, Javi Martínez and Serge Gnabry finding the net before half-time. Lewandowski added the final flourish in the closing stages.

The Bavarians started with Manuel Neuer between the sticks and Joshua Kimmich, Niklas Süle, Hummels and David Alaba at the back. Martínez and Thiago anchored a midfield featuring Gnabry, Thomas Müller and Kingsley Coman, with target man Lewandowski up front. Franck Ribéry, Leon Goretzka and Renato Sanches took over from Coman, Martínez and Müller in the second half.

Early annihilation

The 75,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw the hosts signal their intent from the off. Barely 60 seconds had been played when a Thiago corner found Hummels, who glanced his header just wide. Moments later Müller found Lewandowski in the box, but the striker's first touch let him down. Dahoud shaved the post from 20 yards at the other end, but Hummels soon connected with another Thiago corner and found the net this time. Lewandowski doubled the lead when he picked up Zagadou's bad pass, chipped the ball over Bürki and volleyed home to score his 200th Bundesliga goal.

The Poland captain almost bagged a 201st one but this time Bürki proved equal to his effort. Dortmund's netminder soon made another strong save against yet another Hummels header, again from a Thiago corner. Bürki denied Lewandowski before a certain ex-Dortmund centre-back glanced a header wide, Martínez twisting the knife when he curled a loose ball into the low corner of the net following a mix-up in Borussia's box. Things got more awkward for the sorry visitors when Gnabry headed home a Müller cross.

Cruise control

Bayern's impetus ebbed away in a second half that was a slow-burning sequel to an outstanding first half, but they were never in danger, also because the Ruhr valley outfit parked the bus at times. Gnabry miscued an effort before Bürki beat Hummels to a Lewandowski pass.

Alaba and Süle miscued from distance, but the final flourish came when Gnabry invited Lewandowski to tap in from point-blank range, and seasoned match official Manuel Gräfe put Dortmund out of their misery.

The result takes Bayern onto 64 points from 28 matches, one point ahead of their arch-rivals. The Bavarians will be back in action next Sunday, when they travel to face Fortuna Düsseldorf, and they will be buoyed by Saturday's sensational performance.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen