BERLIN: Bayern Munich showed no mercy with newcomers Bochum and reaped its fourth win in a row after sealing the deal with four goals in the first half in the 5th round in Bundesliga on Saturday.
The visitors from Bochum staged a bright start on the road though as Gerrit Holtmann's dangerous curl on target caught Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer almost flat-footed with 12 minutes played.
Bayern responded in style and broke the deadlock five minutes later when Leroy Sane drilled a free kick over the wall into the top right corner from 25 meters.
The hosts gained momentum and should have doubled their advantage in the 25th minute but Thomas Muller's shot from promising position got blocked.
Two minutes later, Joshua Kimmich utilized Bayern's next chance as the Germany international made it two after scoring with a turn shot from inside the box following Sane's good build-up work.
The "Bavarians" continued to press forward and tripled their lead at the half-hour mark when Serge Gnabry shrugged off Danilo Soares before beating custodian Manuel Riemann with a well-placed shot into the far post corner.
Things went to worse just before the break as Bayern established a four-goal advantage by courtesy of Vasilios Lampropoulos, whose clearance from close range ended up in the wrong goal.
Bayern retracted with its four-goal lead in the opening stages of the second half but with an hour into the game Robert Lewandowski got his name on scoreboards as well after the Pole tapped home Gnabry's blocked shot from inside the box.
The fourth goal of the game took the wind out of Bochum's sails whereas the hosts weren't done with the scoring as Kimmich wrapped up his brace after slotting home Leon Goretzka's header in the 65th minute.
Bochum couldn't put up resistance in the closing stages while Bayern substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting rounded off the win with the seventh goal of the game.
With the win, Bayern Munich move atop the Bundesliga standings for the moment meanwhile Bochum suffered its highest defeat in the club's history to slip to the 17th place.
Elsewhere, Mainz shared the spoils with in-form Freiburg after 90 goalless minutes.
Florian Niederlechner's sole goal helped Augsburg to edge Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 and Arminia Bielefeld played out a goalless stalemate with Hoffenheim. IANS
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