Christof Stache/AFP/Getty ImagesJavi Martinez showed why Bayern paid handsomely to recruit him this past summer, scoring his first team goal in a 5-0 rout of Hannover.

Javi Martinez showed why he was worth his transfer fee while Dante's 'fro saw the Spaniard and the Brazilian bang in their first goals in a Bayern kit. Toni Kroos and Franck Ribery sparkled after their less-than-stellar mid-week form to add two more to Bayern's tally and it took Mario Gomez just 26 seconds on the pitch to add the fifth. All in all, it was a beautiful day in the Allianz Arena as Bayern Munich answered any questions of a November slump by destroying sixth-placed Hannover 96 5-0.

The win, coupled with a Schalke-Frankfurt draw and a victory for Borussia Dortmund away at Mainz, sees Bayern Munich nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table with a +33 goal differential after 13 games. The Rekordmeister strikes yet again!

The key to surviving a match against Bayern Munich is to keep your defense compact and not concede an early goal. Unfortunately, things didn't go that way for Mirko Slomka's men. Three minutes in, Thomas Mueller shot a rocket from 20 yards out that Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler could only palm around the post. The ensuing corner kick saw Toni Kroos deliver to Bastian Schweinsteiger, who headed it up for Javi Martinez to find the net with a perfectly timed bicycle kick.

FCB was threatening early and often, but "the other" Reds were getting theirs as well with Mame Diouf and Lars Stindl both getting decent looks at Manuel Neuer. However, this pressure would only spur Bayern to score their second after Philipp Lahm crossed in to Toni Kroos, who got perpendicular with the pitch and scored with a nice scissor kick of his own.

David Alaba did well to deny Diouf -- arguably Hannover's best player on the day -- before Franck Ribery slammed the door shut on 96, adding a third thanks to a lovely Thomas Mueller assist. Slomka seeked to limit the damage by bringing on a more defensive Christian Schultz for Manuel Schmiedebach but it would still get worse for Hannover after the half.

Bayern earned a free-kick after Schultz fouled Schweinsteiger. From there, Toni Kroos serviced Dante and the Brazilian showed off a celebratory Samba after scoring his first for Munich.

Given Mario Mandzukic wasted several scoring chances and also failed to impress referee Felix Zwayer -- who gave the Croatian a yellow card in the 22nd minute -- Jupp Heynckes brought on Mario Gomez. It took a scant less than half a minute for Gomez to score his first goal since last May, angling a shot across Zieler after beating Karim Haggui.

Antoliy Tymoshchuk replaced Bastian Schweinstieger and Xherdan Shaqiri came in for Thomas Mueller as Bayern put the brakes on in the last 20 minutes, denying Hannover any chance to get one back.

Now, an interesting week ahead as Bayern has a mid-week encounter with Freiburg that should see Bastian on the bench after securing his fourth yellow card of the season on Saturday. Then, next Saturday sees newly second-place Dortmund visit the Allianz Arena in what will surely be the match of the Bundesliga season thus far.

Odds and ends:

Javi was truly excellent today, showing flashes of why his transfer fee was money well spent.

Really, everyone was excellent today. It was an absolute pleasure to watch this match.

Do you realize Bayern had taken 140 corner kicks without scoring a goal before today?

Neuer, out of the box once again, will always give me fits. But, sheesh, he is good. Don't know if he can get away with it against BvB, though.

You should follow Susie on Twitter @fussballsusie.

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