BERLIN (AP) — Robert Lewandowski grabbed a hat trick and set a Bayern Munich record for scoring in consecutive games as he led the team to a 5-0 rout of Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Lewandowski’s latest goals ensured he has scored in every game for the last 16 matches across all competitions for Bayern, going back to a 3-3 draw with Arminia Bielefeld on Feb. 15.
Former West Germany great Gerd Müller, who died on Aug. 15 at age 75, had a 15-game scoring run for Bayern in 1969-70.
Lewandowski broke Müller’s old Bundesliga record by scoring 41 goals last season. He already has five goals from three games this season.
Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann dropped misfiring winger Leroy Sané to the substitutes’ bench and started with the 18-year-old Jamal Musiala in his place. Sané was whistled by Bayern fans for a poor performance against Cologne last weekend.
The defending champions didn’t need long to get off the mark against Hertha. Lewandowski allowed Alphonso Davies’ cross through for the better-placed Thomas Müller to open the scoring in the sixth minute with a low shot inside the far post. Serge Gnabry and Musiala were also involved in what was a fine team move.
The home fans had to wait half an hour for the next goal, headed in by Lewandowski from close range at the second attempt after his first attempt from Gnabry’s cross hit the crossbar. The Poland star out-jumped two Hertha defenders to reach the rebound.
Hertha captain Dedryck Boyata made a crucial clearance as the home team threatened to run riot before halftime.
But Bayern resumed after the break, when Musiala showed why he was given a starting spot by cutting inside and dispatching the ball inside the far post after Müller had won the ball from Deyovaisio Zeefuik.
Musiala – already a German international – got an ovation from Bayern fans when he went off for Sané in the 61st.
Sané made his case by cutting inside past two Hertha defenders, playing a one-two, and then setting up Lewandowski’s second goal in the 70th. The Poland star completed his hat trick in the 84th.
WIRTZ'S WALTZ
Florian Wirtz celebrated his Germany recall by leading Bayer Leverkusen to a 4-1 win at Augsburg, keeping the visitors’ good form under new coach Gerardo Seoane.
The 18-year-old
Leverkusen, which routed Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend, got off to a great start when Augsburg’s Brazilian defender Iago chipped the ball over his own goalkeeper and into the net in the third minute.
Augsburg forward Florian Niederlechner added another own-goal in the 14th when he tried to stop Kerem Demirbay’s shot.
Niederlechner atoned by scoring in the 30th, profiting from a mix-up between Leverkusen defender Mitchel Bakker and goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecky.
Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby had a goal ruled out through VAR for a hand ball by Charles Aranguiz in the buildup.
Augsburg was pushing for an equalizer when Seoane reacted by bringing on Wirtz and Robert Andrich in the 65th. Wirtz made an immediate impact, setting up Patrik Schick in the 75th, then scoring himself in the 81st.
Freiburg held on for a 3-2 win in Stuttgart, which trailed 3-0 in the first half but couldn’t find any more goals in the second.
Cologne enjoyed a 2-1 win over promoted Bochum, Mainz beat promoted Greuther Fuerth 3-0 and Eintracht Frankfurt was held 1-1 at Arminia Bielefeld.
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Ciarán Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP
