Gelsenkirchen (Germany), Sep 20 (IANS): FC Bayern Munich moved to the top of the German top division standings after beating FC Schalke 04 3-0 in an away encounter here.
The defending Bundesliga champions reaped their fourth win of the season as goals from Robert Lewandowski, James Rodriguez and Arturo Vidal were enough to edge past hosts Schalke on Tuesday evening, reports Xinhua news agency.
The hosts tried to take the reins in the opening period but Bayern worked out the first chances of the game through Sebastian Rudy and Thomas Mueller to take the wind out of Schalke's sails.
The hosts nonetheless got their first promising opportunity when Amine Harit forced Bayern's back up goalkeeper Sven Ulreich to make a safe with 20 minutes into the game.
Bayern remained unimpressed and did their own thing as Robert Lewandowski broke the deadlock from the spot after converting a handball penalty five minutes later.
The visitors gained momentum and doubled the lead in the 29th minute when James Rodriguez benefited on Corentin Tolisso's square pass to beat Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann into the near post corner from the edge of the box.
Schalke almost responded two minutes later but Javi Martinez defused Guido Burgstaller's shot on target from close range on the goal line.
After the restart, Bayern should have extended their lead but Thomas Mueller's header on target rattled only the woodwork with six minutes into the second half.
However, Schalke kept it going but lacked in accuracy as Daniel Caligiuri and Yevhen Konoplyanka pulled wide from promising positions.
Bayern cut a better figure in front of Schalke's goal as Arturo Vidal finished off James Rodriguez' chip with a volley into the top left corner to seal the deal in the 75th minute.
With this victory, Bayern climb to the top of the standings for now while Schalke suffered their second loss of the season to drop to the fifth place.
Elsewhere, Borussia Monchengladbach overcame newly promoted Stuttgart on two second-half goals from Raffael.
Augsburg reaped their third win in row after upsetting Leipzig 1-0 on the sole goal from Michael Gregoritsch and Wolfsburg shared the spoils with Werder Bremen as Fin Bartels equalizer cancelled out Divoc Origi's opener.