Dortmund's Thomas Delaney (top) vies with Bayern Munich's Thiago Alcantara during a German Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in Munich, Germany, on April 6, 2019. Bayern Munich won 5-0. (Xinhua/Philippe Ruiz)
BERLIN, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich staged a faultless first-half performance to sink front runners Borussia Dortmund 5-0 at the 28th round in Bundesliga on Saturday.
"From the start we assumed control and neutralized Dortmund's offense. We secured a very deserved victory," Bayern head coach Niko Kovac said.
The German record champions recaptured the first place in the standings as Niko Kovac's men smoothed the way for the win in the first 45 minutes with four goals.
The hosts controlled the proceedings from the start but the "BVB" had the first opportunity of the game as Mahmoud Dahoud rattled the right post following a fast break in the eighth minute.
However, the opener was scored at the other end of the pitch as Thiago Alcantara's corner kick found Mats Hummels, who headed into the far post corner with 10 minutes played.
Bayern remained on the front foot and pressed Dortmund into the defense. It took the hosts only another six minutes to double the lead after Robert Lewandowski intercepted a pass form Dan-Axel Zagadou to chip the ball over goalkeeper Roman Burki.
Dortmund lacked in penetration and were unable to put up resistance against relentless Bayern, who were three goals ahead in the 40th minutes as Javi Martinez curled a rebound from the edge of the box into the bottom right corner.
The hosts were still not done with the scoring in the first half as Serge Gnabry met Thomas Mueller's delivery into the box to head home the 4-0 lead in the 43rd minute.
After the restart, Bayern retracted with the lead behind whereas Dortmund were unable to pose any threat in the second half.
Lewandowski had the last celebration as he rounded off the vital victory with a late goal to seal his brace and the 201st goal in his 284 Bundesliga appearance.
"We staged a poor performance but we don't have to beat around the bushes, Bayern was the better team," Dortmund's team skipper Marco Reus said.
"Bayern Munich taught us a lesson. They were way better than we were," Dortmund's head coach Lucien Favre commented.
With the win, Bayern Munich climb on the first place with a one-point advantage meanwhile Borussia Dortmund slipped to the second after suffering the third loss of the season.
The following fixtures conclude the 28th round in Bundesliga on Sunday: Augsburg encounter Hoffenheim and Borussia Monchengladbach take on Werder Bremen.
