Robben inspires Bayern to hammer Hamburg

Dutch star Arjen Robben produced another eye-catching performance yesterday as Bayern Munich hammered Hamburg 5-0 while champions Borussia Dortmund got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Nuremberg.

Having orchestrated Bayern’s home win over FC Zurich in a Champions League qualifier on Wednesday, Robben ran the opposition ragged and scored as the Bavarian giants dismantled Hamburg at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

“We can all be very pleased with the result,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.

“We played with plenty of purpose and I am especially pleased that we not only created an abundance of goal chances, but we stopped the opposition from scoring again.

“This was our best performance of the season. When everyone is in peak form, we will play better.”

Winless after the first three games, Hamburg captain Heiko Westermann admitted he was again perplexed with his side’s performance.

“This is inexplicable,” said Westermann. “We just have to produce on the pitch the things we do in training. It is high time we win at home (next week against Cologne).”

Bayern are up to second in the table behind early leaders Borussia M’gladbach after racing into a 2-0 lead inside the first 17 minutes.

First, towering Belgium defender Daniel van Buyten buried his header from a Robben free-kick on 13 minutes and then French winger Franck Ribery danced around defenders to score the second.

Having already torn huge holes in the Hamburg defence, Robben made it 3-0 on 34 minutes when he beat two defenders and chipped Hamburg goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny.

A deft back-heel from Thomas Mueller allowed Mario Gomez to fire home from a tight angle on 56 minutes before substitute Ivica Olic’s header on 80 minutes sealed the rout.

Having suffered a shock defeat at Hoffenheim last week, champions Dortmund enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to Nuremberg.

A well-timed pass from Germany star Mario Goetze on 50 minutes found Poland striker Robert Lewandowski in the heart of the penalty area and he fired home before Germany winger Kevin Grosskreutz added the second, 10 minutes from time.

Last season’s runners-up Leverkusen had a 1-0 win at 10-man Stuttgart, who had Holland defender Khalid Boulahrouz sent off for insulting the referee with time almost up.

The visitors took the lead when midfielder Michal Kadlec fired in a shot on 28 minutes which goalkeeper Sven Ulreich could only block with Stefan Kiessling waiting to stab the ball into the net.

Werder Bremen earned a dramatic 5-3 win at home to Freiburg as Papiss Cisse scored twice for the guests, but ended on the losing team after midfielder Aaron Hunt netted an 86th-minute penalty and Wesley scored in added time.

Newly-promoted Augsburg are still looking for their first ever Bundesliga win after they lost 2-0 at Hoffenheim, while the guests picked up their second straight win.

Results
Augsburg 0 - Hoffenheim 2
B. Dortmund 2 - Nuremberg 0
Bayern Munich 5 - Hamburg 0
Cologne 1 - Kaiserslautern 1
Stuttgart 0 - B. Leverkusen 1
Werder Bremen 5 - Freiburg 3

Played on Friday
B. M’gladbach 4 - Wolfsburg 1

Today
Mainz vs Schalke - 13.30
Hanover vs Hertha Berlin - 17.30

Standings: B. M’gladbach 7; B. Munich, Werder Bremen, B. Dortmund, Mainz, Hannover, Hoffenheim, B. Leverkusen 6; Stuttgart 4; Schalke, Wolfsburg, Nuremberg 3; Augsburg, Kaiserslautern 2; Hertha Berlin, Freiburg, Hamburg, Cologne 1.