Rampant Bayern overrun dismal Bayer

Champions Bayern overran an increasingly abject Bayer Leverkusen side in a vastly improved second-half display to chalk up another crucial victory in this term’s impossibly tight Bundesliga title race.

The 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw initially fluent Leverkusen enjoy the better of the first half-hour, but the champions shifted up a gear in the spell leading up to the break and at last began getting their shots away. The first chance after the restart brought an outpouring of relief from the packed stands as Luca Toni netted the opening goal, prompting a transformed Bayern to hit their stride and double the advantage through Franck Ribery on the hour.

The outstanding Lukas Podolski made it three twenty minutes from time as Bayer ran up the white flag, but if there was one fault in Munich’s second-half gala, it was the failure to add any more goals from a string of clear-cut chances.

With leaders Wolfsburg winning by the same margin at home to Dortmund, and Hertha beating Köln away from home, the positions at the top of the table remain unchanged. Bayern and the Wolves both have 63 points from 32 games, Felix Magath's men just holding onto top spot with a goal difference of +30 to Munich's +28, while Berlin continue to lurk a solitary point behind in third.