Robert Lewandowski hit a first-half hat-trick as Bayern Munich thrashed Stuttgart 4-0, despite having Alphonso Davies sent-off early on.
Canadian left-back Davies was shown a straight red card in the 12th minute for a studs-up challenge on Wataru Endo but his dismissal only galvanised Bayern with Lewandowski firing them ahead five minutes later.
Serge Gnabry made it 2-0 in the 22nd after a sweeping move involving Thomas Muller and Leroy Sane. Lewandowski added the third less than 60 seconds later when he rose to head home a Muller cross from the right.
The Poland striker added some gloss in the 39th with a clinical left-footed finish from inside the penalty area as he pounced on sloppy defending by Stuttgart after Sane's jinking run down the right flank.
Bayern took their feet off the pedal in the second half but despite their numerical disadvantage, they still dominated as Lewandowski and Gnabry missed chances to give them an even bigger win against the hapless visitors.
Lewandowski now has a remarkable 35 goals in 25 games for Bayern, with 42 from 36 appearances in all competitions.
The result left Bayern top of the Bundesliga on 61 points from 26 games with second-placed RB Leipzig on 57 ahead of their highly anticipated clash on April 3 after the international break.
Erling Braut Haaland, another striker in prolific form, scored twice including a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw for Borussia Dortmund at Cologne.
Haaland gave Dortmund a third-minute lead with a sublime finish as he took a long Emre Can ball in his stride and held off Jorge Mere's challenge before he steered a low shot through the legs of goalkeeper Timo Horn.
Ondrej Duda levelled with a 35th-minute penalty after Noah Katterbach's shot hit Jude Bellingham in the arm and Ismail Jacobs then turned the tide as he capped a fast break with an unstoppable shot in the 65th.
Just when it seemed Cologne would complete the league double over Dortmund having beaten them 2-1 in the reverse fixture, Haaland popped up in front of goal to tap in a 90th-minute assist by Ansgar Knauff.










