Harry Kane’s hugely impressive start to life at Bayern Munich continued as a hat-trick on his Der Klassiker debut sealed a 4-0 victory for the Bavarian giants at Borussia Dortmund.
Kane bagged his third treble in the Bundesliga in just his 10th match, taking his tally to 15 goals, as Bayern bounced back from their embarrassing German Cup exit to third division Saarbrucken in style.
Dayot Upamecano quietened the famously noisy Signal Iduna Park as Bayern made a fast start before Kane took centre stage, putting Bayern two goals to the good inside the opening 10 minutes.
The England captain then struck twice more in the second half to record a second successive hat-trick, having put three past Darmstadt last weekend while he did likewise against Bochum in September.
While Bayern sit two points adrift of league leaders Bayer Leverkusen, Kane’s display and his nerveless eye for goal was an emphatic statement in the defence of their crown.
After being rested in midweek, Kane was restored to Bayern’s starting XI alongside the likes of Leon Goretzka, Kingsley Coman and Upamecano, who gave the visitors an ideal start in the fourth minute.
Upamecano was filmed sharing a joke with Nico Schlotterbeck moments before the Frenchman got in front of his marker and headed into the net from close range from Leroy Sane’s teasing corner.
Bayern went two up in the ninth minute, with Kane bagging his 13th league goal in just his 10th match since swapping Tottenham for the Bavarian giants in the summer.
Kane put the finishing touch to a nice move which was started by Sane’s clever backheel before he collected the ball back and unselfishly squared for the England striker to tap into an empty net.
Goretzka tried an audacious overhead kick that missed the target and Bayern’s only setback of the first 45 minutes came just before half-time when Thomas Tuchel was booked for remonstrating with officials.
Dortmund almost ended a forgettable half – in which they struggled to contain their opponents – by pulling one back but Netherlands forward Donyell Malen angled his effort just over the crossbar.
Former Bayern defender Niklas Sule was introduced at the start of the second half in an attempt to shore up Dortmund’s defence, but they were soon on the back foot as Bayern again sprung out the traps.
Just seconds into the resumption, Kane’s pass played through Jamal Musiala, who was denied by the spreadeagled Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Bayern had the ball in the net again soon after through Coman, but that was chalked off because Kane was offside in the build-up.
Dortmund were offering not much in the way of a threat but the long-serving Marco Reus, on his 400th appearance for the club, forced a fine save with a turn and shot parried away by Manuel Neuer.
Another Musiala effort was kept out and while he finally breached Kobel’s defences after tapping in from Kane’s pass, the goal was ruled out for offside.
Kane ended any faint hope of a Dortmund comeback by bagging Bayern’s third goal in the 72nd minute, collecting Coman’s low cross, taking a touch to compose himself then sending Kobel the wrong way.
Kane had his hat-trick in the third minute of added-on time after latching on to Aleksandar Pavlovic’s through ball and finishing brilliantly to put an emphatic stamp on Bayern’s victory.
World Cup Girlz back in the fold? Gilbert hints at return of experienced players for Brazil friendlies
For the first time in almost nine months, it seems as if Jamaica’s interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert will have members of the World Cup squad at his disposal, when they visit Brazil for a two-match friendly international series in June.
The Girlz, who first locked horns with Brazil, and lost 0-3, at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, went one better at last year’s global showpiece in Australia, as they not only held the South American giants to a goalless stalemate, but also ensured their elimination at the group stage.
By all indications, that performance, and by extension, the fact that the Girlz made an historic appearance in the knockout stages of the World Cup, earned them even more respect from the number 10-ranked Brazilians, who are currently in preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The games, scheduled for June 1 and 4, are expected to assist Brazil in their preparation, while the now 42nd-ranked Jamaicans will get a much-needed test to regain their appetite for international competition, having last sported the nationals colours against Canada last September.
Since that Olympic qualifying fixture in Canada, members of the World Cup squad withdrew their services from national representation, citing lack of payment and mistreatment from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), among their reasons.
While it is yet to be confirmed how many, if any, of the World Cup players will make the trip, Gilbert gave the clearest indication yet that there might be a few, as he welcomed the games, after not utilizing the last FIFA window.
“It is always important to secure games during the international window. It not only assists in exposing players, but it also ensures the team is active, which helps our rankings, and also our quality of play. Because as you know, the more we play together, especially against quality opponents, the better the team becomes, and we also get to work on different things both offensively and defensively,” Gilbert told SportsMax.TV.
“The expectation is for us to give a good account of ourselves, it has been a while since these players have played together, but the good thing is that they are actively engaged in their respective leagues in Europe and United States. So, it is not like they were inactive, and obviously, it is not the first time they will be playing together.
“So, we just have to keep things as simple or as close to what we did prior to, and during the World Cup, to make sure we are competitive. It is going to be a little bit different, but it’s not far-fetched that we can get another positive result against Brazil,” he added.
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao: Hosts close in on top-four finish
Atletico Madrid beat newly crowned Copa del Rey winners Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home in LaLiga on Saturday as Diego Simeone's side moved a step closer to a top-four finish.
Fourth-placed Atletico moved onto 64 points and have increased their advantage over Athletic, in fifth, to six points with five games to play.
Midfielder Rodrigo de Paul put Atletico in front in the 15th minute with a goal from outside the box. After controlling an attempted clearance from the visitors, his effort dipped just under the bar as his strike deflected off one of the Athletic defenders.
Athletic levelled just before half-time through Nico Williams after Antoine Griezmann lost the ball through a careless pass.
But Angel Correa restored the lead for Atletico in the 52nd minute and later came close to scoring again.
With 10 minutes to play, away goalkeeper Unai Simon inadvertently made it 3-1 with an own goal after Samuel Lino’s effort came back off the post, ending any Athletic hopes of a comeback.
Hull City 3-3 Ipswich Town: Tigers fight back three times to deny Tractor Boys
Ipswich Town missed the chance to move into an automatic promotion spot as play-off-chasing Hull City came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 Championship draw at The MKM Stadium.
Ipswich knew a victory would take them second after Leeds United were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers on Friday, and they led on three separate occasions, George Hirst opening the scoring before Omari Hutchinson produced two brilliant strikes from the edge of the area.
However, buoyed by slip-ups from rivals Norwich City and West Brom earlier on Saturday, Hull dug deep to fight back on each occasion, Ozan Tufan and Liam Delap scoring their first two equalisers.
With Liam Rosenior's men 3-2 down with just four minutes to play, substitute Noah Ohio blasted his shot in off the crossbar to punish an error from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The result keeps Ipswich behind second-placed Leeds on goal difference, though the Tractor Boys have a game in hand to come at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Hull, meanwhile, are two points adrift of the top six, with Norwich's goal difference advantage meaning their top-six spot is all but assured. The Tigers will, however, leapfrog West Brom if they beat Plymouth Argyle on the final day and Albion lose to Preston North End.
Data Debrief: Hutchinson's best not enough
Hutchinson was a man who deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, giving Ryan Allsop no chance with two near-identical left-footed strikes from the right corner of the penalty area.
His goals came from an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.6, and he led all players on the pitch for shots (eight) and passes in the final third (21), also laying on three chances for his team-mates.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
