Bayern continue their stroll towards Bundesliga title

Emphatic 6-0 win over Hamburg leaves Bavarian just two wins away from defending German crown

BERLIN: Bayern Munich closed in on a sixth successive title and sent Hamburg SV closer to a first-ever relegation from the Bundesliga with a 6-0 rout of the beleaguered Dinos on Saturday.

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick and missed a penalty as he reached 100 Bundesliga goals for Bayern in an embarrassingly one-sided match which was over as a contest after 20 minutes.

It was a sadly familiar story for Hamburg who have conceded 50 goals in their last eight Bundesliga games at Bayern, including two 6-0 defeats, two 8-0 losses and one 9-2 reverse.

Leaders Bayern stayed 20 points clear of Schalke 04, who won 1-0 at Mainz 05 on Friday, with eight games to go and are only two wins away from clinching the title. They could even wrap it up next week if they win at RB Leipzig and other results go in their favour.

Hamburg, the only ever-present team in the Bundesliga's 55-year history, will now have to pull off a great escape to keep their proud record intact. They are 17th in the 18-team table and seven points adrift of Mainz in the relegation playoff spot.

"That's not the football I want to see," Hamburg coach Bernd Hollerbach said. "We saw what happens when you give Bayern bit of space. You can always lose to Bayern, but I didn't like the manner of our defeat."

Hamburg held out for eight minutes before Gotoku Sakai's tackle on Arjen Robben succeeded only in sending the ball to the feet of Franck Ribery and the Frenchman rounded Christian Mathenia to open the scoring.

Four minutes later, Robben found Joshua Kimmich in space on the right and his cross was headed in by Lewandowski for the second. It was all too easy for Bayern who added a third in the 19th minute. Jerome Boateng picked out David Alaba with a long pass forward and the Austrian side-footed the ball into the path of Lewandowski for the Pole to score first-time.

Robben got in on the act in the 55th minute with a left-foot shot from the edge of the area and Ribery slalomed his way through the Hamburg defence for his second and Bayern's fifth.

Lewandowksi missed a chance for his hat-trick as he sent his penalty over in the 86th minute but he made amends when the hosts were awarded another spot-kick shortly afterwards.

Bayern have 66 points with Schalke 04 on 46 while Bayer Leverkusen moved up to third with 44 by beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0 with goals from Lucas Alario and Julian Brandt.