Bayern breaks Dortmund drought in emphatic style

European champion Bayern Munich took a significant step toward retaining the Bundesliga title with its first win at rival Borussia Dortmund in four years.

Former Dortmund hero Mario Goetze came off the bench and produced a super shot to give Bayern the lead on 66 minutes before Arjen Robben and Thomas Mueller added to the 3-0 rout in the final five minutes of Saturday's German 'Clasico'.

It was Bayern's first Bundesliga win over Dortmund in seven attempts and extended Munich's record unbeaten run in the German league to 38 matches in a repeat of May's Champions League final.

The result at Dortmund's Westfalenstadion left Bayern four points clear of Bayer Leverkusen, which replaced Dortmund in second place, while Pep Guardiola's Munich is an ominous seven points ahead of Borussia.

"We are very happy because we won against the best counter-attacking team in the world," said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola.

"In the first 15 minutes we played very well, but didn't do so well at the end of the first half.

"We were clearly better in the second half, especially with Thiago, Mario Goetze, Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm."

Dortmund came into the game having suffered a double injury blow after Germany defenders Mats Hummels and Marcel Schmelzer were ruled out with injury on Wednesday.

Bayern, in contrast, was missing only France winger Franck Ribery from its first-choice lineup and Guardiola could bring Goetze and Spain star Thiago Alcantara off the bench.

Defending champion Bayern is at CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday, but has already booked its place in the knockout stages.

Dortmund had its chances, with seven shots on goal compared to Bayern's 10, but Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan wasted clear opportunities while Bayern made its count.

"We cannot overstate the win," said Dutch goalscorer Robben.

(China Daily 11/25/2013 page23)