Bundesliga
Flawless Kane on goals trail again
In Germany, hat-tricks don’t come easy. In order to boast of a treble bearing the hat-trick name, you must adhere to more rules than exist in all other countries.
For starters, your three goals must be scored in the same half. Then, your treble needs to be uninterrupted by any other goalscorer(s). These are rules that take any mere hat-trick known in the rest of the world to another level. Harry Kane achieved this flawless feat in Bayern’s 4-0 win against Stuttgart on Saturday, raising the Englishman’s status even higher among Bayern and Bundesliga fans.
To put Kane’s stunning goalscoring achievement into context, the last player to achieve it for the Bavarian giants was living legend Robert Lewanodwski, who managed a perfect treble in his personal five-goal extravaganza against Wolfsburg back in September 2015.
Watch: Kane's special treble against Stuttgart
Kane’s goals saw the 31-year-old get back into scoring form after an uncharacteristic run of four games without finding the net for club and country. For Bayern, the Kane-inspired win was a first for the team after three matches without victory.
"I always believe in myself; it's the fate of a striker that there is talk when you don't score. Now I'm just happy," England’s record goal-getter said after picking up the match ball against VfB. “In the second half, we stepped it up a notch and Stuttgart couldn’t keep up. The first goal was very important. It opened the game up,” Kane continued.
Along with his first German-flavoured hat-trick, Kane had a Bundesliga personal best 10 shots on target in a single game against the Swabians. His overall Bundesliga goals tally (45) is also now higher than his total appearances (43) in the division.
Watch: Kane - "Important thing is to stay focused"
With eight top-flight goals so far this term, last season’s top marksman has Omar Marmoush in his sights, the Eintracht Frankfurt’s forward currently topping the scoring charts with nine goals.
Kane also came in for praise from Bayern’s executive board member for sport, Max Eberl, who said, “Stuttgart had a chance in the second half. It was dangerous, but it sparked something for us. And then it’s Harry Kane who scores. I’m pleased for him. He works so hard for the team – people often forget that. And then he added another two on top of that to show what a killer he is.”
Next up for Bayern and their deadly sharpshooter is a trip to Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, where a hugely enticing showdown with the aforementioned Lewandowski awaits.