Mario Gomez led the way with a hat-trick as Bayern Munich steamrollered Kaiserslautern to go third in the Bundesliga standings.

Arjen Robben got the scoring under way just before the half-time whistle but the majority of the action came in the second period, with Gomez's triple, Thomas Muller's 90th-minute effort and Jan Moravek's consolation for the visitors all coming after the interval.

Dutch star Robben shaved the crossbar with a solo attempt in the tenth minute, while Christian Tiffert returned fire for Kaiserslautern with a dangerous shot of his own two minutes later. Robben continued to cause problems, easing past two defenders in the 21st minute before drawing a smart save from Tobias Sippel from just inside the area.

The former Real Madrid man finally broke the deadlock in the dying seconds of the half, charging through the centre of the pitch before taking the ball neatly past the onrushing Sippel and slotting home.

Goals galore for Gomez
The second half was just seconds old when master poacher Gomez made it two, Robben again cutting through the away defence before playing in Bastian Schweinsteiger, whose pass left the striker an easy finish.

Anatoliy Tymoschuk pondered too long over clearing an Oliver Kirch cross in the 62nd minute, allowing Moravek to steal in and make it 2-1 and the game remained tightly poised until an onslaught in the final 10 minutes.

With 80 minutes on the clock substitute Hamit Altintop advanced with the ball and saw his pass diverted towards Gomez, who managed to find the net from the edge of the box. That relaxed the hosts and Gomez added his third when he dribbled past Rodnei and into the area before driving beyond Sippel.

There was still time for one more goal, just into added time, Muller placing his shot after more good work from Altintop.