bundesliga

King Kane at the double again as Bayern Munich return to winning ways in the Bundesliga

18.12.2023

Bayern Munich put last weekend's heavy defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt behind them with an impressive win against rivals Stuttgart that saw Harry Kane net a double and Min-jae Kim bag his first for the Bavarian giants.

Bayern Munich 3-0 Stuttgart
Goals: 1-0 Kane 2' (assist: Sané), 2-0 Kane 55' (assist: Kim), 3-0 Kim 63' (assist: Pavlović)

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel was relieved to see his star striker shake off the effects of a cold to feature in his 14th Bundesliga game of the season. Already shorn of several players to injury going into this key encounter against high-flying Stuttgart, the Bavarian tactician received another late blow with news that Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich were laid low with illness. Those absences mattered in the early moments, with Kane sweeping in his 19th top-flight goal of the campaign from close range after Stuttgart keeper Alexander Nübel erred against Leroy Sané. The encounter ebbed and flowed thereafter, with Maximilian Mittelstädt testing Manuel Neuer at one end before Kim had a goal ruled out at the other. On loan from Bayern, Nübel then made up for his earlier mistake by saving smartly on two occasions from Sané. The hosts ended the half in the ascendency and were denied once again when Thomas Müller saw an effort ruled out for offside.

Arriving into the game as the division's fourth-placed team, Stuttgart were celebrating their second-best ever start to a top-flight campaign with 31 points. They also had the second-highest goalscorer in the Bundesliga this season in Serhou Guirassy. For all of that, however, Sebastian Hoeneß's side were put to the sword after the break by clinical opponents. Kane's close-range header from Kim's flick on brought England's all-time record scorer to Bundesliga goal number 20. When Kim's header from Aleksandar Pavlović's set-piece deflected in off Anthony Rouault, the record champions were out of sight. The result brought Bayern back to within four points of leaders Bayer Leverkusen with Tuchel's team also having a game in hand on the Werkself. For VfB, a final match of the year at home to Augsburg offers the chance of a reprieve in a midweek round of fixtures that has Bayern visiting Wolfsburg.

Watch: Musiala - "Harry Kane is amazing"

Match stats

Kane leads the Bundesliga scoring chart with 20 goals while his five headed goals is unmatched in the top-flight this term.
Only Gerd Müller (20, 1968/69) and Robert Lewandowski (22, 2020/21) previously scored at least 20 goals in a first half of the season.
Kim scored his first Bundesliga goal in his 14th appearance in the German top flight.
Bayern equalled the Bundesliga record for scoring in consecutive home games, set at 74 by Udo Lattek’s Bayern between 1970 and 1974. The Bavarians last drew a league blank at home in February 2020 (0-0 vs. RB Leipzig).
Manuel Neuer celebrated his 250th Bundesliga win in Bayern colours.
Bayern have scored 11 goals this season from set pieces, a division best with Heidenheim and Leipzig.

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Teams

Bayern: Neuer (c) - Laimer, Upamecano, Kim, Davies (Krätzig 89') - Guerreiro, Pavlovic - Sané, Musiala (Tel 83'), Müller (Choupo-Moting 83') – Kane
Unused subs: Peretz, de Ligt, Nkili
Out: Buchmann (thigh), Coman (calf), De Ligt (knee), Gnabry (thigh), Goretzka (ill), Kimmich (ill) Mazraoui (calf), Sarr (knee), Ulreich (ill)
Coach: Thomas Tuchel

Stuttgart: Nübel - Vagnoman (Stergiou 83'), Anton (c) (Rouault 59'), Zagadou, Mittelstädt - Millot (Leweling 59'), Karazor, Stiller, Führich (Silas 59') - Undav (Jeong 77'), Guirassy
Unused subs: Bredlow, Stenzel, Raimund, Di Benedetto
Out: Egloff (knee), Ito (muscular), Nartey (knee)
Coach: Sebastian Hoeneß