BERLIN, Dec. 14 -- Bayern Munich came from behind and Philippe Coutinho provided a hattrick at their 6-1 win over Werder Bremen in the 15th round of Bundesliga on Saturday.
Bayern's two-game losing streak came to an end as Coutinho donated two assists and three goals to secure a comeback victory against Bremen, who suffered their second defeat in row.
The defending champions grabbed the reins from the kickoff but neither Robert Lewandowski nor Serge Gnabry was able to overcome Bremen goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka in the opening stages.
The opener was scored at the other end of the pitch as Milot Rashica shrugged off Bayern defender Jerome Boateng before hammering the ball into the top right corner in the 24th minute.
Hansi Flick's men were shocked but recovered shortly before the half time as Coutinho tapped home Gnabry's square pass to the far post before Lewandowski benefitted on Coutinho's chipped through ball to beat Pavlenka in the added time of the first half.
The German record champions piled on the pressure after the restart and doubled their advantage in the 63rd minute when David Alaba's lob over Bremen's defence allowed Coutinho to chip the ball over onrushing Pavlenka.
Werder Bremen were unable to respond and to hold the pace whereas the hosts continued on the front foot as Lewandowski slotted home Thomas Muller's good work to wrap up his brace in the 72nd minute.
Muller got his name on the scoreboards as well after poking home Coutinho's assist moments later. To make things worse for the "Green-Whites", the Brazilian international wasn't done with the scoring and rounded off the 6-1 victory with a well-placed curl from the edge of the box into the top right corner.
With the win, Bayern climbed from the 7th to the 4th position in the standings. Bremen slipped to the 15th place.
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund clinched their third consecutive Bundesliga win after easing 4-0 past hapless Mainz on three second-half goals.
Relegation threatened Cologne secured a vital win as goals from Jhno Cordoba and Sebastiaan Bornauw were enough to edge nine-man Bayer Leverkusen.
Vladimir Darida's sole goal helped Hertha Berlin to down Freiburg and bottom side Paderborn shared the spoils with newly promoted Union Berlin following a 1-1 stalemate.