Robert Lewandowski has continued his brilliant scoring form with a double and Philippe Coutinho struck his first goal for Bayern Munich in a 4-0 rout of Cologne.
The win took the reigning champions top of the German Bundesliga to celebrate the start of Oktoberfest but they will fall to second if RB Leipzig win at Werder Bremen in the late game.
Lewandowski now has nine league goals for the season is the first Bayern player to score in the opening five Bundesliga matches since Carsten Jancker in 2000.
Socceroo Brandon Borrello's Freiburg could have gone top but were held 1-1 by Augsburg, Bayer Leverkusen comfortably defeated Union Berlin 2-0 and Australia captain Mathew Leckie's Hertha Berlin claimed their first win of the season 2-1 over Paderborn.
Lewandowski needed only three minutes to find the net, latching on to Joshua Kimmich's through ball to lift a deflected shot over Timo Horn. His second came early in the second half with a header from a corner.
Last season Bayern struggled through the Munich beer festival, putting pressure on coach Niko Kovac, but made a positive start to period this term.
Promoted Cologne, in the play-off place, had briefly rallied before the break but their hopes ended on the hour when Kingsley Ehizibue saw red for a professional foul on Coutinho.
The Brazilian, who previously struck the post with a free kick, coolly converted the penalty after a retake for encroachment.
Ivan Perisic added a fourth before Bayern eased up in the dying minutes.
Freiburg trail Bayern by one point and could have briefly top but for Florian Niederlechner equalizing for midtable Augsburg against his former club. Lucas Hoeler had opened the scoring by lashing home a loose ball.
Nicolas Hoefler and Nils Petersen could have won the tie late on but both hit the post and Freiburg had to settle for second place, ahead of Leipzig on goals scored.
Australian Associated Press
