Bayern Munich took apart VfB Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon, as dominant first-half display was all that was required.

Bayern blitz Swabians in opening exchanges

The game started badly for Stuttgart, who were put under immediate pressure. Przemyslaw Tyton made a great early save from Artutro Vidal, but it was all to be in vain moments later; this was a recurring theme throughout. Arjen Robben put Bayern ahead just a few minutes afterwards, as they broke away from a Swabian corner. They were left with a four man advantage when moving forward and Douglas Costa squared for the Dutchman, who produced a powerful finish with his stomach.

One became two not long later. Almost a carbon copy of the first goal, Bayern broke away at pace through Thomas Müller and he managed to pick out Costa at the edge of the area. A clever dummy from Robben left the Brazilian ree to race onto the ball and smash home from 20 yards, arrowing a powerful shot into the opposite bottom corner.

The onslaught continues

Müller set up a third for Bayern in the 37th minute, as the scoreline began to edge further and further in the favour of the Bundesliga champions. He exchanged multiple passes with Robben before bursting into the box, going past a man and hitting the by-line. The 'Raumdeuter' then centred the ball for Robert Lewandowski, who volleyed home from close range with Tyton helpless.

The fourth was added before the break, and any number of players could have scored. Kingsley Coman had his shot saved after a mazy run from Costa, before Lewandowski was forced wide by Tyton. Coman got the ball back and stood up a cross towards the back post where Vidal rattled the bar, but Müller was on hand to head into an open goal and complete a crazy passage of play with a deserved goal.

The second half provided little moments of interest, although Timo Werner - clearly Stuttgart's stand-out performer - had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside but it mattered little in the end, as Bayern could have notched up multiple more goals had they pushed for them. Bayern ran out comfortable winners to increase their lead to eight points at the top of the table, while Stuttgart's topsy-turvy form continues.