Record-breaking Kane nets twice as leaders Bayern edge Kiel

Published February 3, 2025
MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane (second R) scores against Holstein Kiel during their Bundesliga match at the Allianz Arena.—AFP
MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane (second R) scores against Holstein Kiel during their Bundesliga match at the Allianz Arena.—AFP

MUNICH: Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich beat Holstein Kiel 4-3 after conceding three times in the second half on Saturday, with Harry Kane scoring twice to set a record for most goals after 50 league games, to open a provisional nine-point lead at the top.

England captain Kane headed in either side of the break to take his league tally since joining Bayern in 2023 to 55 league goals, more than any other player in their first 50 games in the league’s history.

Bayern eased off after the break and let in three goals in the last 28 minutes, with coach Vincent Kompany fuming on the sideline after a shaky second half display, but they held on for the win that took them further ahead in the title race.

They have 51 points, while Kiel are 19th with only 12 points after 20 games.

“His (Kane’s) quality is just unusual,” Kompany told a press conference. “But it is also his mentality. How calm he remains, how hard he works if sometimes he does not score for a game ...it is impressive.”

Kompany was unhappy with Bayern’s finish to the game though.

“Of course, I think for us for 80 minutes to be able to lead at home 4-0 it was a pretty complete game until that point.

“The way we finished the game in the last 10 minutes is something we need to review with the players.

“You can sometimes concede a goal but if you concede momentum you give the other team a chance and that is what happened,” Kompany added.

It all started well for Bayern, who face Celtic in the Champions League playoff this month, with Jamal Musiala putting them in the driving seat in the 19th minute after the visitors had missed a golden early chance through Phil Harres.

It was then Kane’s turn to score, heading in from a Kingsley Coman cross in first-half stoppage time.

He notched his 19th league goal of the season with another header a minute after the restart, this time with Raphael Guerreiro providing the cross.

Bayern did not stop there though, adding a fourth goal through Serge Gnabry in the 54th after the substitute spectacularly controlled the ball in the box and volleyed home.

Instead of an expected rout, however, the visitors battled back and Finn Porath scored in the 62nd.

Steven Skrzybski then bagged the first of his two goals in the first minute of stoppage time, scoring the other two minutes later with the Bayern backline by that time in disarray.

Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund picked up a slim 2-1 victory at struggling Heidenheim in their final game before Niko Kovac takes charge, following the recent sacking of coach Nuri Sahin.

Dortmund went in front as Heidenheim couldn’t clear a corner and Serhou Guirassy scored from close range.

It was the Guinean striker’s fifth goal in his last four games and followed a double in the Champions League in midweek against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Heidenheim came into the contest without a win in their previous 14 league games and occupying the relegation play-off position.

The game remained tight until the hour when Ramy Bensebaini drilled a low cross in from the left and substitute Max Beier made a difficult finish look easy.

Dortmund became their own worst enemies, conceding 18 seconds after the restart as Mathias Honsak cut their lead in half.

But Dortmund held firm and weathered some late pressure to pick up a first league win since Dec 22, snapping a four-game winless streak in the Bundesliga.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Germany international Tim Kleindienst scored a late winner for Borussia Moenchengladbach in a 2-1 victory at Stuttgart and Freiburg picked up a 1-0 win at bottom-placed Bochum, with Kiliann Sildillia nodding in his first Bundesliga goal.

St Pauli were denied victory when Augsburg teenager Mert Komur struck late to ensure a 1-1 draw while RB Leipzig moved back into the top four despite being held 0-0 at struggling Union Berlin.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2025

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