Bayern overtake Dortmund to lead German Bundesliga

BERLIN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich overtook Borussia Dortmund to move atop the standings after crushing Wolfsburg 6-0 at home in the 25th round of Bundesliga on Saturday.

The German record champions recaptured the top spot after 161 days as Robert Lewandowski scored twice to sink harmless "Wolves" 6-0.

Bayern assumed control from the kick off but had to wait until the 34th minute when Thomas Muller's square pass found Serge Gnabry, who slotted home from very close range to break the deadlock.

The hosts gained momentum and doubled their advantage only three minutes later as Gnabry's build-up work allowed Lewandowski to make it 2-0.

Wolfsburg remained hapless as Mats Hummels missed a promising opportunity just before the break.

After the restart, Bayern tripled the lead as James Rodriguez had all time and space to curl the ball from 18 meters into the bottom far corner in the 52nd minute.

Wolfsburg were unable to hold the pace. But the hosts kept scoring as Thomas Muller capitalized on Franck Ribery's assist before Joshua Kimmich headed the 5-0 lead in the 82nd minute.

Robert Lewandowski rounded off the victory after wrapping his brace in the closing period.

With the result, Bayern overtake Dortmund on goal difference despite both sides tie on 57 points from 25 matches. Wolfsburg stay on the 7th place of the standings.

Elsewhere, Dortmund slipped to the second place, as their 3-1 win over Stuttgart was not enough to defend the top spot.

Hertha Berlin lost to Freiburg as Vedad Ibisevic's own goal sealed the 2-1 defeat in front of home crowd.

Third placed Leipzig played out a goalless stalemate with Augsburg, and Borussia Monchengladbach returned to winning ways after beating Mainz 1-0.

The following are fixtures for Sunday: Hoffenheim encounter bottom side Nuremberg, and struggling Hannover face Bayer Leverkusen.