Football
Kane bags brace as Bayern beat Augsburg
Bundesliga-record signing Harry Kane scored twice in his debut league outing in front of a home crowd on Sunday to help champions Bayern Munich beat Augsburg 3-1 and make it two victories in two games.
Kane, who joined for a league record 100 million euros ($108 million) from Tottenham Hotspur and also scored and set up another goal in last week’s 4-0 win against Werder Bremen, got on the scoresheet with a 40th-minute penalty before scoring their third goal in the 69th.
Kane, whose wife gave birth to their fourth child this week, has struck the ground running since his arrival in Munich just over two weeks ago, becoming only the third Bayern player and the first since Adolfo Valencia in 1993 to score three goals in his first two league games.
The striker was brought in to help Bayern improve their scoring after losing Robert Lewandowski last year and to allow them to compete for the Champions League once more.
Despite their second consecutive league victory, coach Thomas Tuchel was dissatisfied with his team’s entire performance, particularly after a lethargic first half.
“Here on home soil, we have not played as freely as we know we are capable of,” Tuchel said during a press conference. “We are still not producing the same level of performances that we are producing in training.”
“We have issues with our pace and how we fight on home soil. Sometimes a fortuitous goal, like the first, is required.”
“Once we got a second goal, we were able to relax.” We were more accurate and clinical in the second half.”
Bayern pressed their opponents from the outset, but chances were few and far between.
The Bavarians did not take the lead until the 32nd minute, when Augsburg’s Felix Uduokhai diverted a save by his own keeper onto the post and over the line for an own goal.
They doubled their advantage with Kane’s well-struck penalty, which was given for an Augsburg hand ball, and increased the pressure after the interval, hitting the crossbar with Leroy Sane.
The England captain then finished off a fast passing play with a beautiful finish, bringing his league total to three goals and putting the game to bed.
Man-of-the-match Kane came close to a hat-trick when he was left unmarked in the box, but his header sailed wide just before the final whistle.
Augsburg did narrow the gap in the 86th minute when they caught Bayern off guard and Dion Beljo rounded goalie Sven Ulreich.
Bayern has the same number of points as Union Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen,VfL Wolfsburg, and Freiburg.
