Monitoring Desk
LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) November 8, 2012: Bayern Munich surged to the top of UEFA Champions League Group F with a hammering of pointless Lille. Claudio Pizarro completed his hat-trick in the 33rd minute, by which point Bayern led 5-0 with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben both striking from free-kicks, the official FIFA website reported.
Salomon Kalou pulled one back from long range but substitute Toni Kroos was quick to add his name to the list of scorers as Bayern moved to nine points ahead of their second meeting with fellow pace-setters Valencia.
"Right from the start, we put in a very good performance. It has been a long time since I have scored three goals, so I am very happy," said Pizarro.
"They scored with almost every attempt on goal," said Lille captain Rio Mavuba. "We're now out of the competition and it hurts. We fought last year to be here and to produce a performance that is not worthy of the club is really disappointing."
Lille's Franck Beria fired over before Bastian Schweinsteiger opened the floodgates inside five minutes, finding the bottom corner with a free-kick after being fouled by Florent Balmont. Nolan Roux nodded over and Salomon Kalou's header was saved by Manuel Neuer as Lille sought a quick response.
But Pizarro made it 2-0 in the 18th minute when he fired home Franck Ribery's pass from outside the box. Another free-kick brought Bayern's third goal, Schweinsteiger fouled once again and Arjen Robben this time stepping up to extend the lead.
Roux threatened twice before his side fell still further behind, Pizarro sweeping home Philipp Lahm's right-wing cross. And the Peruvian international was on the scoresheet again five minutes later, heading home another Lahm delivery to complete his treble.
Neuer saved from Roux and Balmont before Robben threatened a sixth goal at the other end, but his lob was parried away by Mickael Landreau. Marko Basa blocked Ribery's drive and Dante repelled Payet's curler as half-time arrived with no addition to the already extravagant scoreline.
After a quiet opening to the second period, Lille pulled a goal back out of the blue when Kalou let fly from 30 yards and found the top corner of Neuer's net. Jerome Boateng's block denied Roux a second and Bayern quickly extended their lead as Kroos, who had only been introduced on the hour mark, scored in the 66th minute from Lahm's cut-back.
Bayern were not finished and Basa blocked Robben's angled drive before Landreau saved from Xherdan Shaqiri. Landreau produced a double-save to keep out Anatoliy Tymoschuk's long-range drive and Robben's follow-up before Kroos twice went close in a stoppage-time period that also saw Dante block the busy Roux's drive.
Bayern's 2-0 win over Valencia in September means Bayern top the group ahead of their rematch in two weeks' time.
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