• Robert Lewandowski, left, celebrates with Serge Gnabry after scoring Bayern Munich's opening goal in their 4-0 Bundesliga win over Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, March 20. AP
    Robert Lewandowski, left, celebrates with Serge Gnabry after scoring Bayern Munich's opening goal in their 4-0 Bundesliga win over Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, March 20. AP
  • Robert Lewandowski heads home his second and Bayern's third goal. Getty
    Robert Lewandowski heads home his second and Bayern's third goal. Getty
  • Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard. Reuters
    Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard. Reuters
  • Bayern's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring his team's fourth goal with teammates. AFP
    Bayern's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring his team's fourth goal with teammates. AFP
  • Stuttgart's Marc-Oliver Kempf challenges Bayern winger Leroy Sane. AP
    Stuttgart's Marc-Oliver Kempf challenges Bayern winger Leroy Sane. AP
  • Referee Daniel Schlager shows Bayern's Alphonso Davies a red card. Getty
    Referee Daniel Schlager shows Bayern's Alphonso Davies a red card. Getty
  • Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry celebrates scoring their second goal with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Reuters
    Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry celebrates scoring their second goal with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Reuters
  • Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski celebrates completing his first-half hat-trick. AFP
    Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski celebrates completing his first-half hat-trick. AFP
  • Stuttgart's Gonzalo Castro fails to find his way past a Bayern wall from a free-kick. Reuters
    Stuttgart's Gonzalo Castro fails to find his way past a Bayern wall from a free-kick. Reuters
  • Stuttgart goalkeeper Gregor Kobesaves Bayern's Thomas Muller. AP
    Stuttgart goalkeeper Gregor Kobesaves Bayern's Thomas Muller. AP

Robert Lewandowski hits hat-trick as 10-man Bayern Munich thrash Stuttgart in Bundesliga


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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.

TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5