Bayern win, title party put on hold

HATTRICK hero Robert Lewandowski put former club Borussia Dortmund to the sword as Bayern Munich rampaged to a 6-0 win yesterday, but the Bavarians have to wait at least another week to celebrate a sixth successive Bundesliga title.

Lewandowski was lucky not to be ruled offside when he gave Bayern the lead after just five minutes. Franck Ribery was less fortunate a few minutes later, as his goal was correctly ruled out by VAR. Luck had little to do with it, however, as Bayern completely outclassed Dortmund in the first half, strikes from James Rodriguez and Thomas Muller giving them a 3-0 lead before the half-hour mark.

In the dying minutes of the half, Ribery twinkle-toed his way through the defence to set up Lewandowski’s second, before getting on the scoresheet himself with Bayern’s fifth, lofting the ball elegantly over goalkeeper Roman Burki.

“We were totally absent today,” said Dortmund defender Marcel Schmelzer. “Bayern just played cat and mouse with us. It was a disgrace, and it can’t go on like this.”

After a quiet second half, Lewandowski completed his hattrick three minutes from time, turning in Joshua Kimmich’s cross from close range.

“I’ve been on the end of a 5-1 defeat here before, so I know how much it hurts,” said Bayern and former Dortmund defender Mats Hummels.

Bayern’s title celebrations remain on hold after Schalke eased to a 2-0 victory over Freiburg earlier in the day.

RB Leipzig survived a late scare in Hanover, battling to a 3-2 victory to break back into the top four.

Leipzig leapfrog Bayer Leverkusen into fourth, as the latter were held to a turgid 0-0 draw by Augsburg.

At the other end of the table, Hamburg dropped more points as they drew 1-1 in Stuttgart. Hamburg remain bottom, a point behind fellow strugglers Cologne, who were subjected to a 6-0 thrashing at Hoffenheim. – AFP