Jupp Heynckes' men have now won 19 of their 23 league matches this campaign, scoring 63 goals and conceding eight in the process.

With Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen – second and third on the table respectively – not in action until Sunday, Bayern had the chance to go 18 points clear at the top.

And they did that with ease thanks to first-half goals from Arjen Robben and Javi Martinez.

Robben was a menace and turned provider after his initial strike, while Werder Bremen saw their afternoon turn from bad to worse when Austrian defender Sebastian Proedl was sent off.

Theodor Gebre Selassie scored an own goal four minutes into the second half as Bayern went 3-0 up and German striker Mario Gomez got in on the act just moments later.

Belgian Kevin De Bruyne pulled a goal back for the visitors but Franck Ribery and Gomez added polish to the scoreline with late strikes as Heynckes' side celebrated another big win.

Hannover also dished out a thumping at home, defeating Hamburg 5-1 at the AWD Arena.

Mame Biram Diouf opened the scoring for Hannover after seven minutes but the visitors responded quickly thanks to a Rafael van der Vaart penalty.

A spot-kick from Hungarian Szabolcs Huszti six minutes before half time changed the complexion of the game, and Ivorian Didier Ya Konan netted in additional time.

Ya Konan grabbed another in the second half before Mohammed Abdellaoue wrapped up the win with his 85th-minute effort.

Elsewhere, a Joel Matip brace helped Schalke to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Fortuna Duesseldorf at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen.

Other results saw strugglers Augsburg move out of the automatic relegation spots with a 2-1 home win over Hoffenheim, which came thanks to goals from Ji Dong-Won and Sascha Moelders.

Stuttgart and Nuremberg ended in a 1-1 draw, as did Mainz and Wolfsburg.