BERLIN, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Dortmund's Robert Lewandowski hit a hat-trick to inflict Stuttgart the fourth loss of the Bundesliga season on Friday.
Juergen Klopp's men came from behind to punish hapless Stuttgart with six goals. Polish international Lewandowski had large shares on the hammering win due to his second half hat-trick within 18 minutes.
Both sides staged an evenly balanced but fast paced opening period. Nevertheless, Dortmund were able to work out more threatening opportunities then the visitors from south Germany. But, despite their better chances Stuttgart shocked the hosts with an opener against the run of the game. Karim Haggui found Alexandru Maxim's corner cross inside the box to beat Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller into the top left corner at the 13th minute.
In the teeth of Stuttgart's lead Dortmund restored parity six minutes later through Sokratis. The defender had all time and space to nod home a corner to make it 1-1 on the scoreboards.
Dortmund piled on the pressure to complete their comeback minutes later when Marco Reus' solo run and goal turned the tides in favor of the hosts.
However, the visitors looked like they would gain a foothold into the match but Lewandowski's three strikes within 18 minutes dashed Stuttgart's hopes at the second half. The hosts still had not enough as Pierre Emerick Aubameyang marked the 6-1 final score when he chipped the ball over onrushing Stuttgart keeper Sven Ulreich.
The "BVB" take over the lead in the Bundesliga standings for now, meanwhile Stuttgart occupy the ninth place.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: Hoffenheim host German record champions Bayern Munich, newly promoted Braunschweig face third placed Leverkusen, Hamburg see Monchengladbach, Berlin encounter Schalke, Frankfurt meet Wolfsburg and Freiburg travel to Nuremberg.
"It was a bitter game for us today. We were simply outplayed and not able to compete with Dortmund. Thus the defeat is fine," said Stuttgart coach Thorsten Schneider.