Bundesliga: Bayern fires five past brave Union to bounce back from Cup loss

The Bavarians, who stunningly lost 5-0 to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday in their heaviest German Cup loss ever, moved up to 25 points in the first place.

Bayern's Robert Lewandowski applauds at the end of the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and FC Bayern Munich in Berlin, Germany.

Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski scored twice to lead Bayern Munich to a 5-2 victory at Union Berlin on Saturday as the German champion bounced back from its shock midweek German Cup exit to stay top of the league table.

The Pole struck with a 15th-minute penalty and then hammered in a free kick for his 12th goal of the campaign, with Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Mueller also on target in a rollercoaster encounter and Union's first home loss of the season.

The Bavarians, who stunningly lost 5-0 to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday in its heaviest German Cup loss ever, moved up to 25 points.

But its backline, that proved so vulnerable against Gladbach, was again far from solid, angering keeper Manuel Neuer, who made a string of good saves as Union kept attacking.

"We obviously wished for such a start and it really worked well in the beginning," Neuer said. "The two goals we conceded are frustrating."

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"But we are satisfied that we managed to show a different performance today."

Borussia Dortmund, 2-0 winner over Cologne, is a point behind in second. Sensational Freiburg, who beat Greuther Fuerth 3-1, is in third place on 22.

Lewandowski opened his side's account in the 15th minute with a spot kick and added a second eight minutes later before Sane made it 3-0 in the 35th, with Bayern, which faces Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday, keen to prove its Cup loss was just a blip.

But the Berliners were far from done and pulled one back in the 43rd through Nico Giesselmann. Union's Sheraldo Becker then put the ball in the net once more two minutes later but was ruled narrowly offside.

It was the host who got off to a better start after the break, with Bayern's defence looking fragile and Becker and Taiwo Awoniyi time and again finding the space to threaten.

Bayern, however, struck against the run of play with Coman thumping the ball in from a tight angle just past the hour to settle the nerves somewhat.

But again Union refused to surrender, cutting the deficit once more with Julian Ryerson four minutes later before finally Mueller delivered the killer blow in the 79th. Mueller has now scored against all other 17 Bundesliga teams.