Robert Lewandowski scored an incredible five goals in nine second-half minutes, including the league’s fastest hat-trick, to propel Bayern Munich to a sensational 5-1 victory over their title rivals Wolfsburg at the Allianz Arena.
Daniel Caligiuri gave the visitors the lead, but that was wiped out in stunning fashion by the Polish striker, who took matters into his own hands after coming on at half-time, beginning his scoring spree in the 51st minute.
He completed a sensational five-minute hat-trick, added a fourth moments later then took his tally to five on the hour with a brilliant acrobatic volley as Bayern claimed their sixth win from as many matches to go three points clear at the top of the table.
“I am very happy for Robert,” the Bayern manager Pep Guardiola said. “For his confidence and our future this was extremely important.
“I can’t really understand it. Five goals. Neither as a coach nor as a player did I ever experience something like this and I can’t really explain it. Five goals against Wolfsburg are never easy.”
Wolfsburg employed similar tactics to their German Supercup win over Bayern, sitting back and soaking up pressure before hitting quickly on the break. This gave Bas Dost, restored to the starting XI after being dropped at the weekend, an early chance to beat Manuel Neuer, even if it proved to be a rare opening for the Dutchman, who had given his coach food for thought with a brace as a substitute on Saturday.
Arturo Vidal and Thomas Müller missed the target as Bayern tried to make something out of their possession, but Diego Benaglio had little work to do in the Wolfsburg goal.
Just as Bayern passed through four hours without conceding in all competitions, they fell behind with Caligiuri beating Neuer with a powerful volley inside his near post.
Julian Draxler tested Neuer before the Bayern and Germany No1 went walkabout, losing possession in the Wolfsburg half, from where Josuha Guilavogui took aim for the open goal only to find the outside of the left-hand post.
Guardiola sent Lewandowski and Javier Martínez on for the second half, shifting his players around a little, and it worked just five minutes in with the Pole bringing Bayern level.
Müller burst through and as the ball got away from him, it teed up Lewandowski to tap in from close range. He had barely finished celebrating that goal when he put Bayern in front from much further out, beating Benaglio with a low shot from 20 yards.
Lewandowski completed his hat-trick in the 55th minute, first striking a post then hitting Benaglio before converting at the third time of asking. He added his and Bayern’s fourth three minutes after, volleying in from seven yards out to put the result beyond any doubt.
His hot streak continued with goal number five in 10 minutes, an even sweeter volley from the edge of the box which had even Guardiola holding his head in shock on the touchline. It was the fastest five-goal haul in Bundesliga history.
Ricardo Rodríguez denied Lewandowski a sixth with a clearance off the line as Bayern’s striker tore through the Wolfsburg defence, despite being touch-and-go before kick-off due to injury.
“What can I say?,” the Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking said. “A world-class striker shot five times on goal and could have scored seven. That is how it happened.
“But with our quality this should not happen. We had a good first half and Bayern could not up the pace of the game and then came these nine minutes. It’s inexplicable.”
