Harry Kane ended his brief goal drought with a hat trick as Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart 4-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
“As a striker it sometimes says a lot when you go a period without scoring,” Kane said. “That’s part of being a striker. You can’t be too high or too low. I believe in my abilities and in myself. I believe in my teammates who create the chances.”
Kane, who had not scored in four games — three with Bayern and one with England — missed several solid chances before finally ending his drought with a shot from close range in the 57th.
Kane fired home his second four minutes later – after goalkeeper Alexander Nübel had parried another effort – and then missed a chance before sealing his hat-trick in the 80th with a rebound from João Palhinha’s attempt.
Palhinha came on after Aleksandar Pavlovic went off with an apparent shoulder injury. This was only the Portuguese’s fifth Bundesliga appearance, all but one of which has come as a substitute.
With his three goals, Kane took his total to eight for the campaign. Eintracht Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush is the leading scorer with nine.
“Today it’s three goals, but the most important thing is that it helped us not to concede,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany. Substitute Kinglsey Coman scored Bayern’s fourth goal.
Florian Wirtz returned from injury to help Bayer Leverkusen beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Frankfurt felt aggrieved after being denied a penalty in added time.
Hugo Ekitiké looked set to score with a header in front of an unprotected goal after a mix-up with goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah, but Tah ran in and unsettled Ekitiké into a miss.
“I hold Felix (Brych) in high regard as a referee, but I am at a loss for words today,” said Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller after Brych denied them what would have been their third penalty of the match. “It is a clear foul. The boys are angry in the dressing room.”
Ekitiké went further. “Foul. Red. Penalty. I’m alone. Facing the goal. It’s crazy,” said the French striker in the mixed zone.
Frankfurt complained, but the referee ignored his protests. The defending champions eventually won with a goal from Victor Boniface in the 72nd minute.
Boniface had another chance in the ninth minute, but Kevin Trapp saved the poorly awarded penalty.
Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush demonstrated how a penalty is taken, firing in off the left post after a foul by Robert Andrich. It was Marmoush’s ninth goal in seven Bundesliga games and he extended his scoring streak to six games in a row.
But Andrich responded by tying the game in the 25th minute after a 1-2 with Amine Adli and then Martin Terrier before firing into the back of the net.
Boniface finally scored with a simple header when Trapp deflected Wirtz’s cross. On Tuesday, Leverkusen announced that Wirtz had suffered an ankle injury while playing for Germany.
Xavi Simons also stood out in Leipzig’s 2-0 win over Mainz on the road. Freiburg crushed Augsburg 3-1, Borrussia Mönchengladbach beat Heidenheim 3-1 and Hoffenheim beat Bochum 3-1, who are still without a win.
