BERLIN, Germany: Philippe Coutinho scored his maiden while a brace from Robert Lewandowski helped Bayern Munich thrash 10-man Cologne 4-0 on Saturday.
Poland star striker Lewandowski put Bayern ahead with just 150 seconds gone at the Allianz Arena after Joshua Kimmich split the Cologne defence.
He then doubled the hosts’ lead with a header from a corner at the start of the season half to take his league tally to nine in five games.
Coutinho, on loan from Barcelona, converted a penalty on the hour at the second attempt, after Lewandowski gave the Brazilian the chance despite being on a hat-trick.
“It was a spontaneous decision, we didn’t talk about it before the game,” Lewandowski about giving Coutinho the spot-kick.
“It was important for him here at the Allianz Arena, for the future and his confidence. He is a great player and we must all help him.”
Kingsley Ehizibue had been shown a straight red card just before the penalty for bringing down Coutinho in the area when the Brazilian was one-on-one with Cologne stopper Timo Horn.
Coutinho capped a superb display by setting up Ivan Perisic to slot the final goal on 73 minutes as Bayern climbed from fourth.
Having also netted in the mid-week Champions League win over Red Star Belgrade, Lewandowski has scored in each of Bayern’s last seven games with 11 goals in all competitions.
He is the first to score in the first five Bundesliga games since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Borussia Dortmund four years ago.
