BERLIN: Bayern Munich maintained their flawless start in the Bundesliga by beating Hoffenheim 4-1 away on Saturday after Harry Kane netted two penalties and bagged his ninth hat-trick for the German league leaders.
It was Kane’s second hat-trick of the campaign, after a second-half treble in their season opener against RB Leipzig, and he moved five strikes clear at the top of the scoring charts with eight league goals in four matches.
The victory moved Bayern up to 12 points while Hoffenheim are six points behind in eighth place.
Vincent Kompany made five changes to the team that beat Chelsea in their Champions League opener on Wednesday, with 17-year-old winger Lennart Karl becoming the second-youngest player to start for Bayern in the Bundesliga.
Hoffenheim created several promising chances early on, notably through Fisnik Asllani and Alexander Prass, with the home side testing Manuel Neuer multiple times while also hitting the post on one occasion.
Bayern looked like they might be made to work for their three points on a hot day in southwestern Germany and it was Karl who impressed with his energy and counter-pressing.
With the first half threatening to end goalless, the youngster delivered when he assisted Kane for the opener from a corner.
When the teenager spotted Kane losing his marker, he fizzed a low cross into the box which the English striker pounced on, firing the ball inside the near post to beat goalkeeper Oliver Baumann and giving Bayern the lead going into halftime.
Karl nearly grabbed their second goal when he ghosted in from the flank to steal the ball from Hoffenheim’s defenders, but his pace took him away from goal and he did not have the power to score as Baumann stopped his tame shot.
BAYERN EARN TWO PENALTIES
Bayern had the opportunity to double their lead early in the second half from the penalty spot when the referee spotted a handball in the box as the ball deflected off Albian Hajjdari’s arm, and VAR confirmed the decision.
Kane had missed a penalty in the DFB-Pokal cup competition but never in the Bundesliga and he maintained his 100 percent record despite a pause in his run-up, firing his shot low into the bottom corner to beat Baumann who had dived in the right direction.
Hoffenheim seemed to have the wind knocked out of their sails and it went from bad to worse when they conceded a second penalty after Michael Olize was fouled as he entered the box, with the referee checking the replay before pointing to the spot.
Kane stepped up again and this time he sent Baumann the wrong way.
Hoffenheim finally got on the board from a free kick where Vladimir Coufal sent the ball into the box with pace and Joshua Kimmich stuck out his leg to stop it, only to deflect it past Neuer who had no time to react.
The home side had nine minutes of injury time to try to find another goal but it was Bayern who put the game well out of reach when a rebound from Baumann’s save fell to Serge Gnabry, who fired home from a tight angle to make it 4-1.
