Dortmund was in scintillating form on Saturday afternoon, thrashing Wolfsburg 5-1 in a Bundesliga matchup at the Signal-Iduna Park.

Mario Gotze and Shinji Kagawa sent the home side into halftime with a two goal lead, before Aliaksander Hleb pulled one back for the visiting side on the hour mark. However, two goals in five minutes from Robert Lewandowski and Sven Bender put to bed any hopes of a comeback for Felix Magath’s men, before Gotze rounded off his brace with 12 minutes to go.

The home side started strongly and should have taken the lead in the 8th minute, but Kagawa fired over the bar after being found by Marcel Schmelzer in a guilt-edge position in the area.

However, the Japan international kept his composure four minutes later to set up Dortmund’s first goal of the match. His clever back heel released Mario Gotze into the area, where he took advantage of some loose Wolfsburg defending to slot past Diego Benaglio into the far corner.

Dortmund deservedly increased its lead on the stroke of halftime through a blistering counterattack. Hleb was dispossessed by Sven Bender, who set Lewandowski through into the Wolfsburg half. The Pole advanced against the backpedaling defense, and found Kagawa on the edge of the area for a cool finish into the bottom corner.

The home side could have had a third on the hour mark, but Grosskreutz had a shot cleared off the line before Schmelzer’s deflected follow-up was somehow saved by Benaglio. Moments later, Hleb atoned for his earlier error when he stroked home Christian Trasch’s cutback to give the visitors some hope.

However, that optimism lasted just over a minute as BVB restored the two-goal cushion almost immediately after the restart. Gotze’s corner was flicked by Lukasz Piszczek into the path of Bender, who duly nodded home from inside the six-yard area.

Dortmund continued to attack, and Lewandowski was on hand to score the fourth goal five minutes later. Kagawa’s pinpoint pass found the Pole clean through on goal, and his lobbed finish nestled into the back of the net despite the fingertips of the despairing Benaglio.

Gotze grabbed his second and Dortmund’s fifth in the 78th minute, finishing coolly again past the goalkeeper after being found in the clear by Piszczek’s feed. There was still time for further chances for Kagawa and substitute Lucas Barrios as the defending Bundesliga champion rounded off a comprehensive victory.

The result sees Dortmund move onto 23 points, two behind leader Bayern Munich although with a game more played. Wolfsburg meanwhile stays in 13th place with 13 points.