German champions Bayern Munich marched to a comfortable 6-0 win on Friday, cutting open Werder Bremen at will to get their pursuit of a fifth straight league title up and running. Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick while Xabi Alonso, Philipp Lahm and Franck Ribery also registered their names on the scoresheet.
Carlo Ancelotti’s reign at Bayern got off to a dream start and it only took nine minutes for Munich to take the lead. The ball bounced off the box and landed at Alonso’s feet, who controlled the ball outside the penalty area with a deft touch before volleying the ball beautifully into the top corner to give his side the lead.
Just three minutes later, Bayern doubled their lead as the returning Ribery delighted with an exquisite through ball from the left wing. Lewandowski beat the offside trap with ease to race on into the box from the left and slot the ball home. The Polish striker could have easily doubled his tally of goals in the first half but failed to convert a rebound from a Thomas Muller shot and thumped the post from close range.
Bayern were more resourceful in the second half and the goals kept coming. It was barely a minute before the restart when a sumptuous ball from Muller on the right reached the far post, Lewandowki made a late run to sidefoot the ball over the ‘keeper to score Bayern’s third. Muller also set up Ribery and Lahm's goals. The Frenchman found the ball with acres of space in the box before rifling a clean strike to the bottom corner.
Lahm made it five, continuing his run from the back and receiving the ball after playing an intricate one-two pass with Muller before blasting his shot into the top corner. Bremen defender Luca Caldirola tripped Ribery in the box and a penalty was awarded 13 minutes from time. Lewandowski stepped up and beat the hapless Felix Wiedwald to complete the rout.
Brief scores:
Bayern Munich 6 (Robert Lewandowski 3, Xabi Alonso, Frank Ribery, Phillip Lahm) beat Werder Bremen 0
