bundesliga

Main-man Harry Kane helps Bayern Munich topple bewildered Mainz

11.03.2024

A Harry Kane treble helped Bayern Munich pick up a high-scoring win against Mainz that keeps the record champions in touch with Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga standings.

Bayern Munich 8-1 Mainz
Goals: 1-0 Kane 13' (assist: Musiala), 2-0 Goretzka 20', 2-1 Amiri 31' (assist: Gruda), 3-1 Kane 45'+7 (assist: Goretzka), 4-1 Müller 47' (assist: Musiala), 5-1 Musiala 61' (assist: Kane), 6-1 Gnabry 66' (assist: Goretzka), 7-1 Kane 70', 8-1 Goretzka 90'+2 (assist: Kimmich)

Buoyed by a midweek UEFA Champions League victory against Lazio that saw Thomas Tuchel's team advance to the tournament's quarter-finals, the hosts started confidently here against relegation-threatened opponents. An open Matchday 25 contest favoured attacking football and after Jae-Sung Lee and Phillipp Mwene combined to threaten for Mainz, Bayern took over. The opening goal arrived when Thomas Müller's dinked pass into the box sent Jamal Musiala on a foot race with goalkeeper Robin Zentner. Musiala took Zentner wide before squaring for Kane, who tapped in from close range. The record champions lost the injured Alphonso Davies thereafter but the setback failed to hinder them. The alert Joshua Kimmich caught Mainz off guard with a quick free kick that Kane headed against the upright. Goretzka knocked in the follow up for 2-0 but the drama wasn't finished yet. Nadiem Amiri's fantastic hit from Brajan Gruda's rolled set piece set up a thrilling end to an opening half which saw Gruda and Müller both going close. The half would ultimately belong to Bayern, who put daylight beytween the teams with Kane's control and finish from Goretzka's searching assist.

Mainz coach Bo Henriksen has lifted the 17th-placed 05ers' spirits since his recent appointment. However, the Dane's hopes of inspiring his side to a positive result at the Allianz Arena suffered a deadly blow immediately after the restart. The tireless Müller was perfectly placed to convert one more well-engineered Musiala assist and the hosts looked home free. Unperturbed, the visitors kept at it and all of Gruda, Anthony Caci and Edimilson Fernandes went mightily close to reducing the deficit with respective efforts. The more the visitors chased, however, the bigger the spaces for Bayern to exploit and they did so to great effect when Kane's neat cross-field pass landed at Musiala's feet. The 21-year-old jinked this way and that before darting in a well-deserved goal. Substitute Serge Gnabry then joined the party with his first Bundesliga goal of the campaign, a wonderful spin and back-heeled effort that befuddled Zentner. The keeper was picking the ball out of his net for a seventh time shortly afterwards when Kane completed his treble from close in. Goretzka's header completed the scoring as Bayern moved, at least momentarily, to within seven points of Leverkusen.

Match stats

Kane becomes the first player to score four hat-tricks in his first season in the Bundesliga.
England's top marksman netted with his left foot, his right and his head against Mainz.
Kane racked up his 30th Bundesliga goal of the season to join Hamburg's Uwe Seeler (in 1963/64) as the only previous player to reach that mark in his first season in Germany's top tier.
Musiala has been directly involved in nine Bundesliga goals in his last 11 games (six goals, three assists).
Serge Gnabry has never had to wait so long for his first Bundesliga goal in a season.
Bayern have now won their last seven home meetings with Mainz, scoring 37 goals.

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Watch: Kane: "Leverkusen are favourites for the title"

Teams

Bayern: Neuer (c) - Kimmich, Dier (Kim 75'), De Ligt, Davies (Guerreiro 18') - Laimer, Goretzka - Sané (Gnabry 62'), Müller (Tel 62'), Musiala (Zaragoza 75') - Kane
Unused subs: Ulreich, Upamecano, Boey, Choupo-Moting
Out: Buchmann (thigh), Coman (knee), Mazraoui (hamstring), Pavlović (suspended), Sarr (knee)
Coach: Thomas Tuchel

Mainz: Zentner - van den Berg, Guilavogui (Fernandes 35'), Caci - Widmer (c), Krauß (da Costa 76'), Amiri, Mwene - Gruda (Hanche-Olsen 76'), Burkardt (Ajorque 65'), Lee (Richter 65')
Unused subs: Batz, Papela, Onisiwo
Out: Barreiro (suspended), Bell (illness), Kohr (suspended), Leitsch (muscular), Ngankam (suspended), Weiper (knee)
Coach: Bo Henriksen