Wolfsburg crush Bayern 5-1 to go top

VfL Wolfsburg crushed champions Bayern Munich 5-1 yesterday with doubles from strikers Grafite and Edin Dzeko to go top of the Bundesliga on goal difference.

Wolfsburg tore apart a fragile Bayern defence with four goals in 14 minutes in the second half to record their eighth consecutive win and maintain a near-perfect home record with only wins and a draw from 13 matches this season.

Bayern drop to fourth place on 48 points, three off the top with eight matches remaining.

Despite their position, Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath said his team were not aiming for the title and wanted simply to secure a top-five finish.

"Our aim is still to secure fifth spot," Magath, who was sacked by Bayern in 2007 after leading the team to two consecutive domestic league and cup doubles, told reporters.

"This was an extraordinary game and you do not get such a result every day against Bayern."

Hamburg SV carved out a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim with a solitary goal from Jonathan Pitroipa to move up to second on goal difference with 51 points but will miss captain David Jarolim next week after he was sent off for a second booking.

Hertha Berlin's title hopes suffered a setback after they lost 3-1 at home to Borussia Dortmund and dropped to third on 49 points. VfB Stuttgart moved up to fifth ahead of Hoffenheim with a 2-1 win at VfL Bochum.

Grafite, the league's top scorer with 20 goals, produced what must have been the goal of the day when he dribbled past two defenders and the keeper before scoring with a back heel in front of two other stunned defenders for his team's fifth goal.

Bayern, who play Barcelona in their Champions League quarter-final first leg next week, showed little fighting spirit with playmaker Franck Ribery shut out by a hard-working defence and Toni failing to combine effectively with Lukas Podolski.

"It is not comfortable to return with such a result to Munich," said Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann.

"This defeat hurts especially ahead of the quarter-final match against Barcelona. Wolfsburg are now where we wanted to be."