Harry Kane scored his first goal of the season as Bayern Munich held off promoted Elversberg 2-1 in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Kane, wearing the captain’s armband with regular skipper Manuel Neuer rested, struck with 18 minutes remaining to break a 1-1 deadlock and put the defending champions on course for victory.
Bayern had taken the lead through teenage Germany winger Lennart Karl before Elversberg levelled shortly after the hour mark with a superb curling effort from Maurice Krattenmacher.
Kane scored 36 league goals last season but failed to find the net in Bayern’s opening two matches. The England captain was relieved to finally get off the mark.
“That’s football — sometimes you have to wait more than you’d have expected,” Kane told DAZN.
“It was nice to get the goal and the three points. It’s a tough place so we’re happy with the win. We probably haven’t reached our top level yet, but it’s still early days.”
The defeat ended Elversberg’s perfect start to their first-ever Bundesliga campaign, having won their opening two matches.
The club, from a town of just 13,000 people, represents the smallest community ever to have a team play in Germany’s top flight.
Elversberg also received a boost before kick-off when coach Vincent Wagner was cleared to take his place on the touchline after successfully appealing a red card received during last week’s thrilling 4-3 victory at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Bayern took the lead in the 26th minute when Karl tapped in a cross that had been intended for Kane, with the England striker unable to make contact.
Elversberg thought they had equalised through American forward Cole Campbell, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
The hosts were not to be denied for long, however, as Krattenmacher produced a superb curling finish from the edge of the box to bring Elversberg level.
Kane then restored Bayern’s advantage in the 72nd minute, turning sharply in a crowded penalty area before firing home.
Leipzig bounce back with five-goal rout
Earlier on Sunday, RB Leipzig responded to their Champions League defeat at Como by thrashing struggling Hamburg 5-0 at home.
Norway winger Antonio Nusa was the standout performer, scoring once and setting up two more goals, including Christopher Nkunku’s first since returning to Leipzig in August.
Tidiam Gomis, Willi Orban and Romulo were also on target as Leipzig climbed to fifth in the table.
“It’s easy to look into the past too much. You lost two games. It’s difficult, but you have to look forward,” Nusa told reporters.
“Today we had to perform and we did, so I think we had a good balance of not thinking too much of the past, but trying to attack today and I think we did it.”
The defeat was Hamburg’s third heavy loss in as many league matches and leaves the six-time German champions bottom of the table.
Leipzig went into the match under pressure following a 4-1 defeat at Como on Thursday and a 3-1 loss at Werder Bremen the previous week.
Sporting director Marcel Schaefer had issued an unusual statement on Friday insisting the club was “united” despite criticism of the team and new coach Martin Demichelis.
Leipzig took the lead after 17 minutes through Gomis before Nusa doubled their advantage before half-time.
Nusa then set up Orban for Leipzig’s third in the 72nd minute before creating another for Nkunku just two minutes later.
Brazilian striker Romulo completed the rout with a late counter-attacking finish.
AFP
