Bayern Munich stay on goal trail as Robert Lewandowski stars in big win

Bayern Munich continued their free-scoring form to open up a 14-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a 4-0 win at Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Thomas Muller and David Alaba gave Pep Guardiola's men a two-goal interval cushion and, after a series of scares, Robert Lewandowski struck twice after the break to keep Bayern on course for a third straight league title.

The defending champions have scored 14 goals in eight days and, even without several first-team regulars, again proved they are a cut above the rest of the division.

They were without regular goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who was rested, meaning Pepe Reina became the first Spanish goalkeeper to appear in the Bundesliga.

Former Bremen forward Claudio Pizarro missed the clash with his old club because of injury, while Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben were also ruled out.

Theodor Gebre Selassie lifted an early shot over Reina's goal as Bremen threatened first.

Bayern's first chance came after 13 minutes when Lewandowsk's close-range header was pushed away by Raphael Wolf.

Muller took their next opportunity in the 24th minute. His first effort was blocked by Wolf in a one-on-one situation, but the ball came back to him and he curled in a shot.

Alaba doubled Bayern's lead on the stroke of half-time with an almost identically executed shot from a 20-yard free-kick.

Fin Bartels nearly brought Bremen back into the game with what would have been a candidate for goal of the season, but Reina was alert and raced back to tip his audacious effort from near the touchline over the bar.

Moments later, Sebastian Prodl went down under a challenge from Jerome Boateng and Bartels turned the loose ball in, but the referee opted against giving either a goal or a penalty, instead penalising the Austrian defender for a handball.

The Weserstadion crowd left the referee in no doubt what they made of the decision, and tempers also started to boil over on the field with a spate of yellow cards.

Bayern then added a third, Lewandowski heading in from Muller's cross after Wolf came rushing off his line and failed to claim the ball.

With the points secured, Guardiola was able to bring Philipp Lahm, coming back from a broken ankle, on for the final nine minutes.

There was still time for Lewndowski to add a fourth after a neat exchange with Muller in the last minute.