Bayern Munich have cantered to a 5-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb to seize control of Group F.
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After a dominant start at the Allianz Arena, Bayern opened the scoring after 13 minutes when Douglas Costa collected the ball on the flank before cutting inside and firing the ball inside the near post.
Six minutes later, Costa almost turned provider for Mario Gotze, but the German's volley flashed wide of the target, although the lead was doubled on 22 minutes when Thiago Alcantara capitalised on a mistake at the back before supplying the ball to Lewandowski for the easy finish.
Zagreb's task got much tougher in the space of six minutes as Bayern found the back of the net on two more occasions, with Gotze first extending their advantage with a low volley.
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The fourth goal came two minutes before the half-hour mark, with Lewandowski beating his marker to connect with a Costa cross that struck the underside of the crossbar before bouncing over the line.
Dinamo managed to fend off a fifth for 27 minutes, but it inevitably arrived in the 55th minute as Lewandowski completed his treble with a clever flick over the goalkeeper after he had been set up by some excellent approach work from Thiago and Costa.
Gotze nearly found a sixth when firing wide from a good position in the box, before Lewandowski squandered the chance of a fourth when attempting to round the goalkeeper rather than get a shot on goal.
The pace of the match dropped during the closing stages, much to the relief of Zagreb, and the Croatian team ended the night on a positive note after learning of Arsenal's surprise defeat to Olympiacos as the remaining three teams in the group battle it out for second spot.
Darren Plant
