Bayern Munich 5 Wolfsburg 1: Super-sub Lewandowski makes Bundesliga history

Robert Lewandowski came off the bench to score five goals in nine minutes as Bayern Munich thrashed Wolfsburg 5-1 at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old was introduced at half-time and fired in a four-minute hat-trick before adding two more in a breathless 15-minute spell from the home side.

Bayern started on the front foot but Wolfsburg stunned the Allianz Arena on 26 minutes as Daniel Caligiuri fired home emphatically following Julian Draxler’s pass.

Pep Guardiola’s side struggled to break through a resilient away defence and they almost found themselves two down when Josuha Guilovogui hit the post from his own half, with Manuel Neuer stranded.

But the half-time arrival of Lewandowski turned the game on its head as the Poland international became the first substitute to score five times in a Bundesliga match to leave Wolfsburg shellshocked.

Douglas Costa brought the first save out of Diego Benaglio with a low drive from 25 yards before Arturo Vidal curled over from a similar distance as Bayern settled quickly into their passing game.

Thomas Muller should have done better when he collected Mario Gotze’s clever pass only to blast his effort wide of the right-hand post from the edge of the area, but a disciplined Wolfsburg took the lead just after the 25-minute mark, Draxler picking out Caligiuri on the break and the 27-year-old rifled a fierce half-volley past Neuer at the near post.

Neuer almost gifted Wolfsburg a second as he raced towards the halfway line only to miss an interception, but Guilavogui’s lob from the centre-circle clipped the upright before bouncing wide.

Guardiola threw on Lewandowski and the change paid dividends almost immediately. Muller was denied by Benaglio after a fine team move involving Gotze and Vidal, and Lewandowski was on hand to poke the ball home on the rebound.

The Poland striker put Bayern in front just a minute later, lashing the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area, and he sealed a stunning four-minute hat-trick – the fastest in Bundesliga history – as he prodded the ball home after initially hitting the post after being set up by Muller.

Wolfsburg were completely rattled and Lewandowski helped himself to a fourth on 56 minutes as he turned in Costa’s cross with a crisp strike.

But the former Borussia Dortmund man saved his best for the fifth – a sensational acrobatic volley which flew past Benaglio and left Guardiola speechless on the sidelines.

Benaglio made a double save to deny Gotze and then Muller from adding a sixth before a combination of the Swiss keeper and Ricardo Rodriguez on the goal-line stopped Lewandowski from scoring again.

Former Bayern man Dante blocked another Lewandowski effort inside the area as the champions cruised through the closing stages to go three points clear at the top of the table ahead of Dortmund’s clash with Hoffenheim on Wednesday.