Another Kane treble helps Bayern humble Hoffenheim
Harry Kane praised Bayern Munich’s second-half performance after its 4-1 rout of Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, with the England striker completing yet another hat-trick to help his side to victory once again.
Kane opened the scoring in the 16th minute at PreZero Arena, finishing neatly at the near post off 17-year-old Lennart Karl’s maiden Bundesliga assist, giving the Bavarian side a 1-0 lead at the break.
The Bayern frontman was then clinical from the penalty spot, dispatching two spot-kicks past Oliver Baumann in the second half to put the result to bed, while Serge Gnabry added further gloss with a fourth deep into stoppage-time.
Hoffenheim grabbed a late consolation when former West Ham United defender Vladimir Coufal’s free-kick was deflected in by Joshua Kimmich.
Reflecting on the match, Kane admitted the first half was sluggish but was pleased with Bayern’s improvement after the break.
“It was a good game for us,” he said. “The first half was tough, we looked a bit tired, but we got the first goal shortly before half-time – an important goal.
“You can’t play perfectly in every match, there’ll always be phases when the opponents get chances. Then you have to defend well, which we did.
“The second half was more like us: the way we moved the ball, how we pressed with and without the ball. We upped the level, increased the intensity, which made it hard for them.”
On his own performance, Kane, who netted his second league hat-trick of the season from only four matches played so far, added: “The goals again came at the right time. We got the win in the end. It’s nice to have scored again and helped the team.
“‘Hat-trick Harry’ is what they called me in school. That one kind of stuck when I was younger. Any ball in the box, whether penalty or not, I just back myself to hit the target.”
Kane’s clinical display in front of goal saw him become the first player in Bundesliga history to convert all of his first 17 penalties.
He currently leads the league with eight goals, while Bayern has scored 18 in total across its opening four matches, a new Bundesliga record for goals in the first four games of a season.
Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany also echoed Kane’s words about his side’s reaction after the break.
“Hoffenheim were better in the first half. They won the tackles and did almost everything right,” Kompany said.
“When the first half isn’t perfect, it’s important that we show a reaction – today we did that.
“We immediately came out better in the second half and accepted that it wasn’t good enough in the first half.”
