Bayern Munich’s striker Robert Lewandowski scores a penalty during the German first division Bundesliga football match against Hamburg SV February 25, 2017 © AFP / Guenter SCHIFFMANN
BERLIN, Germany, Feb 25 – Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich handed Hamburg an 8-0 thrashing at the Allianz Arena on Saturday in Carlo Ancelotti’s 1000th match as a coach.
Kingsley Coman came off the bench to score twice while Arturo Vidal, David Alaba and Arjen Robben were also on target as Bayern got back to winning ways after last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin.
They stay five points clear of second-placed RB Leipzig, who were 3-1 winners at home to Cologne.
For struggling Hamburg there was a depressing predictability about the outcome of their trip to Bavaria — they had conceded 36 goals in losing their previous six away league meetings with Bayern.
That run included two 5-0 defeats, a 6-0 loss, one 8-0 drubbing and a 9-2 humiliation in March 2013.
Vidal opened the scoring and a Lewandowski penalty doubled Bayern’s lead just past the midway point in the first half, with the Pole making it 3-0 just before the break after a Douglas Costa shot had been saved.
Lewandowski completed his fifth hat-trick since the start of last season by finishing from a Robben assist early in the second half for his 19th league goal of the campaign.
He then combined with Thomas Mueller to set up Alaba for the fifth goal, and Hamburg’s pain didn’t end when the Pole went off.
Frenchman Coman was introduced and added a brace with Dutchman Robben putting the seal on a memorable win on a landmark day for Ancelotti, 57.
Leipzig’s forward Emil Forsberg (2ndL) celebrates with his teammates after scoring during the German first division Bundesliga football match against FC Cologne February 25, 2017 © AFP / ROBERT MICHAEL
Swedish winger Emil Forsberg’s fifth-minute opener set RB Leipzig on their way to victory against Cologne, with a Dominic Maroh own goal doubling their advantage.
Japanese forward Yuya Osako pulled one back for the Billy Goats early in the second half but Timo Werner’s 13th of the season put the match out of reach.
Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund kept their Champions League qualification bid on track with a 3-0 win away at Freiburg.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos converted from a Marco Reus free-kick to put Thomas Tuchel’s side in front and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang picked up his 18th and 19th goals of the season to secure the points.
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen slumped to their 10th league defeat of the campaign, going down 2-0 at home to Mainz.
Leipzig’s forward Timo Werner celebrates after scoring during the German first division Bundesliga football match against FC Cologne February 25, 2017 © AFP / ROBERT MICHAEL
They had been hoping to bounce back from their midweek Champions League loss at home to Atletico Madrid but could not recover from the concession of early goals to Stefan Bell and Levin Oztunali.
Bottom side Darmstadt’s horror season continued as they went down 2-1 at home to Augsburg despite taking the lead through Marcel Heller early in the second half.
A penalty from Paul Verhaegh quickly brought Augsburg level and Raul Bobadilla then got their winner late on with an expert chip.
Hertha Berlin host Eintracht Frankfurt in Saturday’s late game.
