Lewandowski smashes five past Wolfsburg as Bayern stay perfect

Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in a sensational nine-minute window as Bayern Munich came from behind to hammer last season’s German Cup winners Wolfsburg 5-1 at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.

The Polish international was brought on at the break with the Wolves leading through Daniel Caligiuri’s strike. Lewandowski bagged his first on 51 minutes and went on to score another four times until the hour mark, his fifth goal of exceptional quality. He’s the first substitute in the league’s history to score five goals in one game and they were the quickest five scored by anybody.

''I'm very satisfied. It was a crazy few minutes,'' Lewandowski said. ''Five goals is incredible. I'm very happy.''

Wolfsburg executed a perfect game plan in the first half. The away side were compact and powerful at the back, while using their quality on the counter-attack. Dante and Naldo were ruthless in defense and the triangle with the pair and Luiz Gustavo looked remarkably composed under pressure from Bayern’s attacking players.

At the other end of the pitch, Max Kruse and Julian Draxler secured possession and allowed the Wolves to build dangerously. Bas Dost led the line after he scored two goals against Hertha Berlin on Saturday, putting his mini-spat with Dieter Hecking to one side — the Wolfsburg coach criticized the Dutchman’s attitude but they soon made up in public.

Draxler has huge shoes to fill this season following his $39 million move from Schalke. The departure of Kevin De Bruyne has left many concerned that Wolfsburg won’t be able to sustain a title challenge this season. However, the 22-year-old was the hub of everything promising for the side in white shirts.

On 17 minutes, he delivered a searching ball towards Caligiuri who would have scored if he wasn’t flagged for offside. The two combined brilliantly on 26 minutes when Draxler picked out the same player on the flank, the former Freiburg ace composing himself and volleying past Manuel Neuer for his first goal of the campaign.

The lead was thoroughly deserved and all of a sudden, Dieter Hecking’s men were closing in on a first win in Munich. Diego Benaglio, the Wolfsburg keeper, had little to do in the first half, but kept out Douglas Costa with a fine save on 30 minutes.

Things could have gone from bad to worse for the German champions two minutes later when Draxler’s long range thunderbolt was held superbly well by Manuel Neuer. A few minutes later, though, the Bayern keeper almost cost his side with a misjudged run out of goal leaving Joshua Guilavogui with an open goal from around 45 yards. The French midfielder did everything right -- but the outside of the post prevented a second goal for the visitors.

Josep Guardiola is always a proactive rather than reactive. He had planned his strategy to great effect for the interval and introduced Lewandowski and Javi Martinez. A back-three became a back-four, Lewandowski led the line, Gotze went right and Martinez offered stability in the middle of the park.

Five minutes on the pitch and Lewandowski scored his first, sticking out a leg inside the box to send the loose ball past Benaglio. Less than a minute later, Naldo appeared to lose focus, playing Lewandowski onside and the Polish international drilled an excellent finish past Benaglio from 20 yards.

On 55 minutes, Lewandowski finished at the second attempt to score his second Bundesliga hat trick for Bayern — his last was against VfB Stuttgart in 2013. About 100 seconds later, the crowd gasped in disbelief as Costa rammed the ball back, finding the striker who side-footed the ball high into the net.

As events went from great, to extraordinary, Lewandowski turned it up a notch to the downright sensational. A chipped ball from Gotze was inch-perfect for the former Dortmund center-forward to execute a wonderful bicycle kick from the edge of the box, the shot leaving Benaglio rooted to the spot.

''I don't think I'll see it again,'' Guardiola said. ''Football is crazy sometimes.''

One more for Lewandowski and he would have matched the all-time record for goals in a game, achieved by FC Köln’s Dieter Muller, who scored six.

And Lewandowski wasn’t far from matching that record. The striker was denied his sixth goal in 18 minutes by Benaglio at the 68-minute mark. Wolfsburg players and coaches looked shell-shocked on the substitute’s bench and even the introduction of Nicklas Bendtner, the match-winner in Wolfsburg’s Super Cup win over Bayern, couldn’t stop the tide.

''When we all look at each other and see how stunned we are, there's no need for words,'' Wolfsburg substitute Maximilian Arnold said.

Bayern’s thrashing of Wolfsburg puts the champions back to the top of the league before rivals Borussia Dortmund take on Hoffenheim on Wednesday. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, stay in third with 11 points from their first six matches of the season.

Hamburger 1, Ingolstadt 0

Michael Gregoritsch grabbed a late winner for Hamburg to leave Ingolstadt still waiting for their first home win of the season after going down 1-0 at the Audi Sportpark.

Ingolstadt set a Bundesliga record for winning their first three away games in the top flight at the weekend, but their home form has been quite the opposite with Hamburg taking advantage on Tuesday night. Ingolstadt had looked strong with Mathew Leckie menacing, but it was Hamburg who struck after Johan Djourou saw a goal ruled out.

Gregoritsch's goal came in the 87th minute and lifted Hamburg above Ingolstadt in the standings on goal difference.

Darmstadt 2, Werder Bremen 1

Sandro Wagner came back to haunt his former club with two goals for Darmstadt in a 2-1 win over Werder Bremen.

Aron Johannsson put Bremen in front against the run of play before Darmstadt forward Wagner ended a 24-game drought by leveling from the penalty spot. He then scored his second of the night to earn Darmstadt their first home win in the Bundesliga since 1982, to lift them into mid-table with nine points and just one defeat in their first six games back in the top flight.

Bremen ended the game with 10 men after Fin Bartels was given his marching orders late on.

Hertha Berlin 1, FC Köln 0

Vedad Ibisevic struck twice as Hertha Berlin moved up to fifth in the Bundesliga on Tuesday night with a 2-0 win over FC Köln.

The former Stuttgart striker ended a 25-game wait for a goal to put the Old Lady in front just before halftime, adding his second deep into stoppage time as Hertha traded places with their guests in the standings.

Hertha could have had more, too, and they were unfortunate not to get a penalty early on when Salomon Kalou appeared to be fouled inside the penalty area, but Ibisevic did enough damage for Pal Dardai's men.

Information from FOXSoccer.com's newswire services contributed to this report.