Two well-worked goals in the first five minutes have helped Bayern Munich power back to the top of the German Bundesliga with a 4-1 demolition of Cologne.
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Robert Lewandowski and Kingsley Coman were both on target in a frantic opening to Sunday's game in Cologne, with Serge Gnabry making it 3-0 after just 12 minutes.
The Germany winger added a stylish fourth in the second half and Mark Uth struck for Cologne.
RB Leipzig had put pressure on the champions by winning 3-0 at home to Werder Bremen on Saturday to go back to the top temporarily.
But Bayern now lead their title rivals again by a point after 22 of 34 matches as they target an eighth straight Bundesliga crown.
"We were clinical with the first chances we had. We have to criticise ourselves, we could have scored 10," captain Manuel Neuer told Sky.
"But we also could have conceded a few more."
Mainz, five points above the relegation playoff spot, drew 0-0 at home with sixth-placed Schalke in the turgid late game.
Bayern had snapped a six-game winning streak in the league when they drew 0-0 at home to Leipzig last weekend.
But any hope Leipzig had that the Bayern juggernaut was grinding to a halt were all but over in a flash after an incredible start from Hansi Flick's side by the Rhine.
Lewandowski scored his league-high 23rd goal of the season with a thumping left-foot finish after a neat interchange of passes after just three minutes.
The Poland marksman has a real chance of breaking Gerd Mueller's record of 40 goals in a Bundesliga season if he carries on his current scoring rate.
France's Coman, making his first start in two months after injury, then finished off a similar move soon after.
With not even a quarter of an hour on the clock, Gnabry picked up the ball in the box, made space and fired into the corner of the goal.
It was the first time Bayern had ever led 3-0 away from home after 12 minutes of a Bundesliga game.
Cologne had the ball in the net early in the second half but VAR ruled it out for offside.
Gnabry's ninth goal of the league season followed midway through the half before on-loan Schalke forward Uth gave Cologne fans something to cheer.
Borussia Dortmund, 4-0 winners over Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday, are four points behind Bayern in third.
Fourth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach are level on points with Dortmund but have a game in hand following a 4-1 derby triumph at Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.
Australian Associated Press
