MUNICH: Harry Kane scored his third straight Bundesliga brace as Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 on Saturday to move nine points clear of chasers Borussia Dortmund atop the table.
Dortmund, who have won six consecutive Bundesliga matches, play at RB Leipzig in Saturday’s late game.
Aleksandar Pavlovic’s low strike gave Bayern the lead and Kane added goals either side of half-time, before giving away a penalty converted by Germany forward Jonathan Burkardt with 13 minutes remaining.
Bayern captain Joshua Kimmich gifted Frankfurt’s Arnaud Kalimuendo a late goal with a poor pass but the hosts held on.
Kane has now scored more than one goal in a match 13 times this season in all competitions.
The England captain has netted 28 goals in 23 Bundesliga appearances and 43 in total this campaign.
The only negative for Bayern was a second-half injury to wing-back Alphonso Davies.
The Canada captain, who returned after eight months out with an ACL injury in December, clutched his ankle after a tackle and pulled his jersey over his face as he was substituted.
Bayern earlier burst out of the blocks and Pavlovic broke through on 16 minutes.
The Germany midfielder latched onto a failed clearance and blasted in a low shot, which slipped through Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos’ fingers and trickled over the line.
Kane doubled Bayern’s lead four minutes later, heading in a corner from close range.
The England captain added another midway through the second half, sneaking the ball just inside the post with his left foot.
Burkardt’s penalty looked a mere consolation until Kalimuendo jumped on Kimmich’s mistake to cut Bayern’s lead to one with four minutes remaining, but the hosts kept Frankfurt at arm’s length in the final stages.
Bayer Leverkusen’s top-four hopes took a hit with a 1-0 defeat at Union Berlin, days after an impressive Champions League win at Olympiacos.
Home captain Rani Khedira overpowered former Union midfielder Robert Andrich to pounce on a loose ball and hammer home in the 28th minute.
The defeat leaves Leverkusen in sixth, three points behind fourth-placed Stuttgart.
Elsewhere, third-placed Hoffenheim dropped points for just the second time in eight matches in a 2-2 draw at Cologne.
Cologne took the lead thanks to an incredible bicycle kick from Ragnar Ache but Hoffenheim hit back either side of the break to take the lead thanks to goals from Ozan Kabak and Andrej Kramaric.
Teenage winger Said El Mala put Cologne level with an excellent solo goal on 63 minutes and the hosts held on to grab a valuable point against the in-form visitors.
Augsburg were behind twice but won 3-2 at Wolfsburg, with Elvis Rexhbecaj scoring in stoppage time to lift the visitors nine points clear of the relegation play-off place.