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Bayern Munich v Hamburger SV 6-0

Rampant Bayern hit sorry Hamburg for six

12.03.2011

Bayern bounced back in style from three straight defeats and warmed up superbly for Inter Milan in midweek with a 6-0 rout of northern rivals Hamburg, on a heartening afternoon when club captain Philipp Lahm celebrated his 100th consecutive start in an FCB shirt, and Arjen Robben set his side on the way to victory with a well-taken hat-trick.

The 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw the champions make a slow start but slot into the groove ten minutes before the break, hitting the post or bar three times in the two minutes prior to Robben’s 40th-minute opener.

The Dutch ace doubled the lead straight after the restart and completed his hat-trick on 55 minutes, the effervescent Franck Ribery making it four midway through the second half. The demolition job was completed by Thomas Müller and a Heiko Westermann own-goal provoked by Ribery as Bayern emphatically consigned their recent woes to the history books.

The thumping result means the champions remain fourth in the standings on 45 points from 26 games, now only two behind Hannover in third and four off second-placed Leverkusen, who visit Mainz on Sunday. The Bavarians turn to the glamour of Europe next when Inter visit the Allianz Arena in the Champions League last sixteen showdown on Tuesday.

Louis van Gaal responded to a turbulent week at the club by making three changes to his starting line-up. Daniel van Buyten replaced Anatoliy Tymoshchuk at centre-half, with Luiz Gustavo back from sickness in place of Breno, suspended after seeing a red card last week. Bastian Schweinsteiger returned from serving out a ban of his own instead of Holger Badstuber.

The Bayern attack had a more familiar look to it, with Toni Kroos partnering Schweinsteiger in central midfield, Franck Ribery and Robben out wide, and Thomas Müller in the hole behind Mario Gomez.

Once referee Michael Weiner whistled the match underway on an afternoon bearing the first hints of the Bavarian spring, the sides both showed plenty of the hesitancy and indecision born of the tumult which will see both coaches depart their clubs at the end of term. Thomas Kraft saved well from Mladen Petric, with Ribery driving wide and HSV keeper Frank Rost pulling off a great block to deny Gomez.

Almost half an hour had been played before Robben put the next chance just wide and Kraft made a routine save from David Jarolim, but the champions shook off their concerns in style ten minutes before half-time and began picking off the Hamburg defence almost at will.

With 36 minutes gone, Gomez brilliantly duped Heiko Westermann and rounded Rost only to slide his shot against the far post, Müller blasting the rebound against the bar with the goal at his mercy. The crossbar rescued the visitors again just 60 seconds later, Rost turning Van Buyten’s snap effort from Robben’s cross onto the goal frame..

The opening goal was not long delayed, as Ribery worked the ball to Robben down the inside left channel in the 40th minute, the Netherlands star crashing a left-footed drive past Rost from ten yards. FCB were firmly in the box seat now, and the interval made no difference to the new balance of play, Robben doubling his and his side’s total on 47 minutes with a curling free-kick fumbled by Rost as Müller and Gomez closed in.

The one-way traffic and the one-man show continued unabated, Robben firing a decent chance over the bar before taking advantage of a superb left-flank run and cut-back by the increasingly lively Ribery to compete his hat-trick on 55 minutes with a shot on the turn from eight yards.

With the match over as a contest, Änis Ben-Hatira drew a good save from Kraft as FCB eased back a shade, but it was a brief interruption to the demolition job as Ribery accepted Robben’s angled pass after 64 minutes, charged clear of Gojko Kacar and skilfully lobbed Rost to make it four.

Gomez headed straight at the Hamburg keeper, before the striker, Gustavo and Robben gave way to Badstuber, Miro Klose and Hamit Altintop for the last 20 minutes. Bayern briefly took a breather to settle into their new formation, before the men in red charged clear on the break from a Hamburg corner, Altintop finding Müller on the left-edge of the box for the Germany man to make it five with a low drive on 79 minutes.

The home side were not finished yet, Ribery setting off on a mazy dribble to the by-line and squaring for the hapless Westermann to deflect past his own keeper, bringing up the half-dozen and completing the rout with five minutes remaining.

Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley

MATCH STATS

Bayern Munich - Hamburger SV 6-0 (H-T: 1-0)

Bayern Munich: Kraft - Lahm, Van Buyten, Luiz Gustavo (Badstuber 67), Pranjic - Schweinsteiger, Kroos - Robben (Altintop 70), Müller, Ribéry - Gomez (Klose 73)

Substitutes: Butt, Contento, Ottl, Tymoshchuk

Hamburger SV: Rost - Rincon, Kacar, Westermann, Aogo - Jarolim, Zé Roberto - Ben-Hatira (Jansen 66), Elia - Guerrero (Tesche 68), Petric

Referee: Michael Weiner (Hasede)

Spectators: 69,000 (capacity)

Goals: 1-0 Robben (40), 2-0 Robben (47), 3-0 Robben (55), 4-0 Ribéry (64), 5-0 Müller (79), 6-0 Westermann (85 og)

Yellow Cards: Ribéry, Klose / Guerrero

Credit: FC Bayern Munich (www.fcbayern.t-com.de)