Bayern, who have now kept a clean sheet in 11 consecutive games, opened up a three-point lead at the top of the table. Werder Bremen, second on 16, visit Hanover 96 on Sunday.

Hoffenheim kept the Bavarians, who looked sluggish following their 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League in midweek, in check and twice went close to securing a surprise win through Ryan Babel.

"We had a huge match on Tuesday and we have worked a lot in recent weeks," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes told reporters.

"We can live with this result. You could feel today the players were not really that fresh." Dortmund bounced back in style from their midweek Champions League defeat by Olympique Marseille to surge to fourth with 13 points.

Polish striker Lewandowski scored from close range on the half hour and added his second a minute before the break when he pounced on a defensive error by Gibril Sankoh.

Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller made a spectacular save from Sankoh's penalty just after the restart before a charging Mario Goetze latched on to a Lewandowski pass and flicked the ball over the visiting keeper for the third.

Lewandowski completed the rout with a glancing header in the 78th minute, his fifth league goal of the season.

Third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, on 16 points, lost ground with a 1-0 defeat at Freiburg.

Bayer Leverkusen snatched a 3-1 home win over VfL Wolfsburg with Eren Derdiyok scoring the goal of the day with a bicycle kick in the 65th minute.

Earlier, Wolfsburg's Mario Mandzukic beat his marker in the air to head the equalizer after Gonzalo Castro had given the hosts a first-half lead.

Stefan Kiessling added a third goal five minutes from time to help Leverkusen move up to seventh on 13 points.

On Sunday Hamburg SV host Schalke 04, who will have Dutch coach Huub Stevens on the bench after he joined the German Cup winners this week.