Hats off to Lewy
Hat-trick hero Lewandowski leads Bayern to destroy Hamburg
BERLIN: Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich handed Hamburg an 8-0 thrashing at the Allianz Arena in Carlo Ancelotti’s 1,000th 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 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. After the match, Ancelotti was understandably pleased with his team’s performance.
“Perfect day, perfect game. The team was fantastic and I’m delighted,” Ancelotti said.
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 three points.
Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel hailed his striker’s return to form after a recent dry spell.
“We need an Aubameyang who doesn’t think too much and is constantly looking forward to his next goal-scoring opportunity,” Tuchel said.
“That’s the Aubameyang we need”.
In Saturday’s late game, Hertha Berlin defeated visiting Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0, leapfrogging them into fifth place in the table. — AFP