Munich, Nov 3: Mario Gomez scored a first-half hat trick as Bayern Munich took a major step toward the knockout stage of the Champions League by defeating Napoli 3-2 on Wednesday.
Napoli rallied with two goals from Federico Fernandez as both teams finished the match with 10 men.
Napoli's Juan Zuniga was sent off in the 70th and Bayern's Holger Badstuber followed in the 77th, both after receiving a second booking.
Bayern tops Group A with 10 points, ahead of Manchester City and Napoli. Villarreal is last. City won 3-0 at Villarreal to reach seven points, Napoli has five and Villarreal still has to earn a point.
Gomez opened the scoring in the 17th, taking advantage of an opening in Napoli's defense. Bastian Schweinsteiger saw the space and sent a through ball to Gomez, who shook off Hugo Campagnaro and slotted past goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis.
It was Bayern's 250th goal in the Champions League.
Gomez doubled the lead in the 23rd, when Toni Kroos floated a perfect cross behind Napoli's defense to the unmarked striker. Gomez easily drove the ball past De Sanctis.
In the 42nd, Bayern produced one of the best moves of the match, with Franck Ribery feeding Kroos as the Napoli defense stood helplessly. De Sanctis stopped Kroos' effort but couldn't hold onto the ball and Gomez tapped in from close range.
Gomez now has 13 goals in the last 10 Champions League games. With a total of 17, he is the top German scorer in the competition.
Just before halftime, Ezequiel Lavezzi sent a free kick and Fernandez rose above the Bayern defense at the far post to head home and Marek Hamsik fired wide in stoppage time, coming close to notching another for Napoli.
Bayern lost control of the game after the break and rarely threatened after that.
Schweinsteiger had to leave the game with a shoulder injury after an aerial collision with Gokhan Inler early in the second half.
Zuniga was sent off in the 70th for tripping Ribery and shortly after that De Sanctis had to stretch to tip over a shot from Philipp Lahm.
Badstuber was dismissed with his second booking in the 77th for bringing down Edinson Cavani.
In the 79th, Fernandez rose over Daniel van Buyten at the far post to connect with a free kick from Gokhan Inler and head into the opposite corner.
Napoli pressed hard in the final minutes looking for the equalizer but nearly conceded with the last kick of the match. After a Napoli corner, the ball was cleared and Gomez sent it toward Napoli's net from Bayern half. De Sanctis was caught far out, but the keeper sprinted back and kicked the ball away less than a meter before the goal line.
