BREMEN: Bayern Muni­c­h’s record signing Harry Kane scored once and set up another goal on his Bundesliga debut to steer the champions to a 4-0 victory at Werder Bremen on Friday and a winning start to their league season.

England captain Kane, who joined for a league record 100 million euros ($108.68 million) from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur last week to solve Bayern’s scoring problems, assisted on Leroy Sane’s opener just three minutes in, before scoring midway through the second half.

Billed as the missing link one year after the German champions lost forward Robert Lewand­owski, Kane connected play superbly on his Bundesliga debut, going close several times before his 74th-minute opener.

Kane’s goal snuffed out Bremen’s second-half fightback and opened the floodgates with Sane scoring another in the 90th minute with an easy tap-in and French teenager Mathys Tel, who had replaced Kane, getting on the scoresheet in injury time to ensure Bayern finished the opening day in their usual place: atop the league table.

“It was a good evening,” Kane told reporters. “It was a tough game but we started well with the early goal. They then made it hard for us in the second half but then I scored the second goal and the lads from the bench did the rest.

“I was a bit nervous and excited. Even though it was not my first match for Bayern I was nervous before the game. For sure there were a few butterflies, but as always when I get on the pitch, instinct takes over.”

Bayern had suffered a surprise 3-0 home loss to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup last week with Kane making a second half substitute appearance.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel praised his team’s temper­ament, telling DAZN: “We stayed calm, patient, we didn’t go crazy. We had a very good game, from start to finish.”

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2023