Harry Kane hits hat-trick as Bayern Munich hammer Mainz
The England captain now has 30 goals in his debut Bundesliga season.
Record-breaking Harry Kane scored his fourth hat-trick of the Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich hammered Mainz 8-1.
Kane’s move to Bayern looks set to coincide with the first time in 12 years they will not win the title, but he is breaking all sorts of individual records.
Another treble saw him take his tally to 30 league goals for the season, with Robert Lewandowski’s seasonal record of 41 under severe threat with nine games to go.
Four hat-tricks is a record in a debut Bundesliga season and reaching 30 means he is just the second-ever player to reach that tally in his debut season, with Uwe Seeler also doing it in the league’s inaugural season in 1963-64.
Leon Goretzka (two), Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala, who Kane assisted with an outrageous crossfield pass, and Serge Gnabry also scored as Bayern cut the gap to seven points on leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who have a game in hand.
Kane’s goals have not been able to keep Bayern on the coat-tails of Leverkusen, who had opened up a huge lead at the top of the table.
But the England captain cannot stop scoring and he needed just 13 minutes to open his account when he converted from Musiala’s pass.
Six minutes later Goretzka made it two as he bundled home a rebound after Kane’s header glanced the post.
Kane looked primed to have a chance to add another from 12 yards after they were awarded a penalty for handball, but VAR overturned the decision – and then Mainz got themselves back into the game when Nadiem Amiri rifled home from 25 yards.
But Bayern were in no mood to drop more points and put their visitors to the sword.
Former Tottenham striker Kane made it 3-1 in first-half injury time with a brilliant finish, superbly controlling Goretzka’s cross and firing home.
Muller got in on the act two minutes after the restart as he tapped home Musiala’s cross before the 21-year-old got on the scoresheet himself just after the hour.
He had Kane to thank, though, for delivering a brilliant arching ball that sent him clear and he did the rest.
Gnabry joined in the fun five minutes later with a mesmerising finish, flicking home Goretzka’s cross with his back to goal.
Kane added another match ball to his collection when he got on the end of Eric Dier’s header at the far post to create history.
Goretzka completed a good afternoon’s work in added time as he headed home Joshua Kimmich’s cross.