Robert Lewandowski continued his astonishing run of goalscoring form with a brace in a thumping 4-0 win over Borussia Dortmund as Hansi Flick celebrated his second win in four days since taking over as caretaker coach.
With former long-serving Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger amongst the names being touted as replacement for Niko Kovac, who was sacked after a 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt last Sunday – the club’s heaviest Bundesliga loss since April 2009 – Flick has at least steadied the ship.
After sealing qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 2-0 victory against Olympiakos at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, Bayern followed up with a rousing triumph over Dortmund on home soil.
In the game dubbed ‘Der Klassiker’ between these two old rivals, Lewandowski showed why he is Europe’s most lethal striker, maintaining his record of scoring in every Bundesliga and Champions League game this season.
Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki was given no chance from Lewandowski’s powerful header for the opener, the Poland striker latching onto an inch-perfect cross from Benjamin Pavard in the 17th minute.
For a moment, Bayern thought they had doubled their lead six minutes before the break, only for Serge Gnabry’s tap-in to be ruled out for offside, a decision confirmed by VAR.
The review technology also played a part in Bayern’s second two minutes after the interval, with another offside call made but with Gnabry not to be denied on this occasion.
In the 76th minute, Lewandowski put the game to bed by firing home Thomas Muller’s through-ball to take his remarkable tally this season to 26 goals in 22 games for club and country.
A Mats Hummels own goal compounded Dortmund’s misery, with the win lifting Bayern up to third, a point behind leaders Borussia Monchengladbach who are at home to Werder Bremen on Sunday.
