Harry Kane Scores as Bayern Munich Storm Back to Rout RB Leipzig

Harry Kane scored his 21st Bundesliga goal of the season as Bayern Munich produced a dominant second-half display to secure a 5-1 comeback victory away to RB Leipzig on Saturday.

The emphatic win restored Bayern’s 11-point lead at the top of the table over second-placed Borussia Dortmund and maintained their relentless, record-breaking pace in the league. Still unbeaten, Bayern have dropped just four points all season and now boast a record-equalling 50 points after 18 matches, alongside a league-best 71 goals — the most ever at this stage of a Bundesliga campaign.

Leipzig made a strong start and stunned the visitors by taking a first-half lead through Rômulo. However, Bayern shifted gears after the interval, with goals from Serge Gnabry, Kane, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlović and Michael Olise turning the contest on its head.

The hosts opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Rômulo slipped past Tah to prod home Antonio Nusa’s pass from close range. Leipzig continued to cause problems early on, but their advantage was short-lived after the break.

Just moments into the second half, Bayern equalised in simple fashion. Dayot Upamecano dispossessed Christoph Baumgartner in midfield before releasing Gnabry, who guided a composed finish into the bottom corner.

Bayern went ahead in the 67th minute following another Leipzig error. Olise’s floated cross appeared harmless until Ridle Baku lost his footing, allowing Kane the space and time to smash home from close range.

With Leipzig’s resistance broken, Bayern ran riot in the closing stages. Tah, Pavlović and Olise all found the net in the final 10 minutes, while Jamal Musiala made a welcome return from the bench after a six-month injury lay-off.

Can Rescues Dortmund in Dramatic Finish

Earlier in the day, Borussia Dortmund were forced to rely on a dramatic stoppage-time penalty from Emre Can to edge past bottom-placed St Pauli 3-2 at Signal Iduna Park.

Dortmund appeared in control after Julian Brandt and Karim Adeyemi scored on either side of half-time, but St Pauli stunned the hosts with a spirited comeback as James Sands and Ricky-Jade Jones struck twice in the space of 10 minutes.

Deep into stoppage time, VAR intervened to identify a foul on Germany forward Maximilian Beier, allowing Dortmund captain Can to step up and convert from the spot.

“What a rollercoaster ride,” Can told Sky Germany. “But we need to do much better to settle games and convert our chances.”

Brandt had given Dortmund the lead just before the interval with a close-range finish, before Adeyemi doubled the advantage in the 54th minute after being set up by Fábio Silva.

Despite having won only once since September and sitting at the foot of the table, St Pauli refused to go quietly and drew level through Sands and Jones midway through the second half.

Jones’ late challenge on Beier ultimately proved decisive, as Can calmly dispatched the resulting penalty to secure all three points.

Hoffenheim Continue Rise as Leverkusen Slip

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim climbed above Leipzig into third place with a narrow 1-0 home victory over struggling Bayer Leverkusen.

Wouter Burger scored the only goal of the game after nine minutes, curling in a superb free-kick to secure a vital win.

“That was an important one,” Burger said. “I’d been practising free-kicks a bit this morning.”

Once relegation candidates last season, Hoffenheim are now on course to qualify for the Champions League for only the second time in their history, having previously achieved the feat under current Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann in the 2017/18 campaign.

Leverkusen’s poor run continued, with four defeats in their last six matches leaving them three points adrift of the Champions League places.

In other Bundesliga results, Cologne beat Mainz 2-1 at home, Wolfsburg were held to a 1-1 draw by Heidenheim, and Hamburg were held to a goalless draw by Borussia Mönchengladbach.