Robert Lewandowski didn’t feature in the starting line-up in Bayern Munich’s league fixture against Wolfsburg on Tuesday September 22, 2015 . The home fans at the Allianz Arena in Munich were a bit surprised to see Wolfsberg keeping the ball with them for the first 5 minutes as Lewandowski watched from the benches as just another spectator. Wolfsburg got an opportunity in the sixth minute but Caligiuri’s cross was nicely held by the Bayern goalkeeper. Though Bayern claimed the ball possession, they couldn’t control the game. Then in the 27th minute, Caligiuri got a great ball from Draxler and smashed it past Neuer from the right edge of the box. Wolfsburg took the 1-0 lead and kept it until the halftime. After the break, Bayern coach Pep Guardiola replaced Juan Bernat with Robert Lewandowski. The next 6 minutes went by in the same manner as the game in the first half. Then the unprecedented occurred. In the period between the 51st and 60th minutes, the Polish international improved his season’s goals tally from four to nine in an extremely rare onslaught. He began his miraculous streak in the 51st minute with a tap-in and followed that up with a sublime strike from just outside the penalty area. . His third goal came from a rebound chance, fourth from a stunning volley and the last from an acrobatic cycle shot. The official time for Lewandowski’s dazzling performance was recorded as 8 minutes 59 seconds and the Pole had played for a shade under 15 minutes since he came as substitute for Bernat. Riding on Lewandowski’s heroic exploits, Bayern ended as 5-1 winners after a 0-1 deficit at halftime.
In one of the most scintillating football displays in recent memory, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski made history by singlehandedly taking his team to a 5-1 victory against Wolfsburg. Lewandowski scored each of those five goals scored in a space of 9 minutes in the second half. In the first half, Lewandowski didn’t play but Bayern coach sent him in to replace Juan Bernat after 45 minutes. Wolfsburg had a reasonably good start and even found the lead from a 27th minute goal by Caligiuri, who made gainful use of a beautiful ball from Draxler before smashing it past the Bayern goalkeeper Neuer. Wolfsburg were plain unlucky to miss a 2-0 lead in the 38th minute, when goalkeeper Neuer came 50 yards out of the goal, when Guilavogui sent the ball flying. Luckily for Bayern and Neuer, the ball grazed the left post and bounced away. Nothing special happened after this massive relief for Bayern and the teams went for the break with Wolfsburg leading 1-0.
The 27-year old Robert Lewandowski joined the Bayern Munich side after halftime. In his sixth minute on the field, Lewandowski just tapped in a ball to open his account in the 51st minute and 60 seconds later, had a terrific strike from just out of the box. In the 54th minute, Lewandowski got his hat-trick, after he received a lovely ball from Goetze and though his huge strike hit the post in the first attempt, the Pole rifled home the rebound. That was the fastest hat-trick ever in Bundesliga history, achieved in 3 minutes 22 seconds. In 1991, Michael Tonnies had taken nearly 6 minutes, playing for Duisburg against Karlsruher.
Lewandowski was not finished yet. He scored his fourth goal in 57th minute, when Lewandowski received a ball from Costa and smashed it inside the goal and in the 60th minute the Pole achieved a unique distinction of scoring his fifth goal on the trot inside 9 minutes. The last of his goals was scored from a fabulous scissor kick from just inside the box. Lewandowski had once scored four goals for Borussia Dortmund in their 4-1 win over Real Madrid in the 2013 UEFA Champions League semi-final. But 5 goals in 9 minutes were sweeter, when his side was down 0-1 at halftime. The final victory score of 5-1 was a stunning blow for Wolfsburg, who were completely unprepared for the Lewandowski onslaught.
One unhappy person with Lewandowski’s feat on Tuesday was Bayern captain Philipp Lahm, who said Lewandowski could have grabbed seven goals tonight. In the 69th minute, Costa sent a juicy cross to Lewandowski, who struck cleanly but an incredible goal-line clearance by Rodriguez denied the Pole. Then in the 79th minute, Lewandowski’s right footed shot from right side of the box was also blocked. The match ended with Lewandowski falling one-goal short of equaling Bundesliga’s 6-goal haul by Cologne’s Dieter Mueller in their 7-2 win over Werder Bremen in August 1977.
