BERLIN, Nov. 9 -- Robert Lewandowski's brace helped Bayern Munich to inflict hapless Borussia Dortmund a heavy 4-0 defeat in the Bundesliga "Klassiker" in the 11th round on Saturday.
The "Bavarians" staged a powerful performance over 90 minutes as their victory never seemed in doubt against Dortmund, who struggled to gain a foothold into the encounter at all.
Hansi Flick's men gained the upper hand from the starting whistle and needed only 17 minutes to open the scoring as Dortmund were unable to clear the ball from the area, allowing Benjamin Pavard to cross into the path of Lewandowski, who nodded home the opener for his 15th goal of the season at the back post.
The hosts dominated the game and neutralized all efforts by Dortmund within the midfield. Hence, Dortmund failed to get a chance on target in the first 45 minutes. However, despite a big plus on chances, Bayern were only able to establish a one-goal lead.
After the half-time, Bayern started where they left off and pressed Dortmund into their territory. It was thus just a matter of time before the hosts doubled their lead through Serge Gnabry, who poked home Thomas Muller's square pass in the 49th minute.
Lucien Favre reacted on his team's poor performance and fielded Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer. Dortmund eventually got their first chance on target but Alcacer missed the target following a cross from Achraf Hakimi with 69 minutes played.
It remained Dortmund's only note worthy opportunity as Bayern continued on the front foot. Lewandowski showed no mercy and scored his 16th goal of the season to triple the lead, putting the win beyond doubt in the 79th minute.
Bayern were still not done with the scoring and made it 4-0 with the helping hand of defender Mats Hummels, who cleared Ivan Perisic's square pass into the wrong goal to round off Dortmund's nightmare at Bayern.
"Bayern were the better team. We weren't good enough. It was a disappointing performance," Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre said.
"We played aggressive from the very first minute. The team knew that a victory was mandatory," Bayern Munich care taker Hansi Flick said.
With the result, Borussia Dortmund slipped from the 2nd to the 5th place meanwhile Bayern Munich jumped from the 4th to the 3rd position in the Bundesliga standings.
The following fixtures conclude the 11th round on Sunday: front runners Borussia Monchengladbach host Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg see Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg encounter Eintracht Frankfurt.