BERLIN: Harry Kane claimed his 33rd league goal of the season and Thomas Muller scored twice as Bayern Munich thrashed Union Berlin 5-1 away in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Just a week after Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen broke Bayern’s 11-year title run, the visitors were dominant and clinical in the German capital.

Kane curled in an excellent free-kick and laid on a second-half goal for Mathys Tel. The England captain is eight shy of Robert Lewandowski’s single-season Bundesliga goals record with four games remaining.

Bayern rested Jamal Musiala after Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Arsenal sent them through to the Champions League semi-finals but they had no difficulty creating chances against Union.

“We’re happy — it was a perfect week. It was by no means guaranteed that we’d win like that,” said Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.

Handed a rare start, French teenager Tel set up Leon Goretzka’s 29th-minute opener, with Kane doubling the lead in first-half stoppage time.

Muellr, playing his 470th Bundesliga game for Bayern, scored both of his goals in the second half, either side of a strike from Tel.Union, who faced Real Madrid and Napoli in the Champions League this season, pulled one back late through Yorbe Vertessen, have now won just one of their past eight and sit three points clear of the relegation places.

Earlier, RB Leipzig tightened their grip on fourth place, the final guaranteed Champions League spot, with a 2-1 win at Heidenheim as Lois Openda scored his 23rd goal of the season.

Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko opened the scoring shortly before half-time, pouncing on some disorganised defending from the home side for his 10th league goal this term.

Heidenheim struck back with 20 minutes remaining, Nikola Dovedan heading in following a free-kick.

Leipzig grabbed the winner with five minutes remaining when Openda tapped in a Mohamed Simakan pass.Meanwhile, a hat-trick from Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Robin Hack was not enough as his side lost 4-3 at Hoffenheim.

Hoffenheim led 3-1 midway through the second half before Hack scored twice in 11 minutes to level the score with just a minute remaining, but Anton Stach scored in stoppage time for the home side to snatch victory.

Elsewhere, bottom side Darmstadt won their first league match since October, beating second-last Cologne 2-0 thanks to goals from Oscar Vilhelmsson and Cristoph Klarer.

Despite the win, Darmstadt remain 10 points from safety with four games remaining.

Cologne’s chances of beating the drop are falling fast. They are five points away from 15th-placed Bochum, the final safe spot.

Bochum lost 1-0 at VfL Wolfsburg, with Ralph Hasenhuettl’s side winning thanks to a goal from Jonas Wind.

Wind’s goal deepened Bochum’s woes a week after sacking coach Thomas Letsch, with the side just one point clear of the relegation spots.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024