Tag: Kane

Harry Kane made history by reaching 50 Bundesliga goals at the fastest pace ever with a hat-trick in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over Augsburg.

The England captain needed to score three goals to get to the landmark and after scoring a 63rd-minute penalty for the opener, he added two more in injury time.

His second strike also came from the spot after he was fouled by Keven Schlotterbeck, who was sent off for a second yellow card, just before Kane headed in his third just before full-time after a fantastic first touch to control the ball.

With the 50 goals coming in 43 Bundesliga games it meant he surpassed Erling Haaland’s mark of 50 in 50 for Borussia Dortmund, before the Norwegian joined Manchester City.

The win moved Bayern eight points clear of Leipzig at the top of the league ahead of the weekend’s games and also ensured the German giants remain unbeaten in the league with nine wins and two draws from their 11 games.

“We knew it would be difficult to break them down. We knew we had to be patient,” Kane told DAZN.

“At half-time that’s what we said, ‘we just have to keep doing what we’re doing’. Thankfully we got the penalty to open the game up and then did well to kill the game off.”

The 31-year-old has 14 goals in 11 league games for Bayern this season, with five of those penalties.

“I work on them a lot,” added Kane. “They’re a big part of the game. They helped us again today.

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“Of course I’ve missed many at training, but that’s the time to miss them.”

It has already been a record-breaking season for Kane, who has now scored 20 goals in all competitions this term.

He scored four times in the 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League in September, which made him the top English scorer in Champions League or European Cup history with 33 goals in 45 games, passing Wayne Rooney’s old mark of 30.

Kane also became the first English player to score four goals in a Champions League game.

BBC

England all-time leading goalscorer Harry Kane has vowed to avenge the ghosts of Wembley and end the country’s years of hurt, after Ollie Watkins’ last-minute stunner sent England into Sunday’s Euro 2024 final.

England booked their place in a second straight European final thanks to a famous 2-1 victory over the Netherlands here and will now head to Berlin for a final against Spain looking to go one better than the heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Italy on home soil three years ago.

“We are going to give everything to win,” Kane said. “We missed it by one step in the last Euros. That hurt us for a long time.

“I know it hurt the nation for a long time. We’ve worked extremely hard to get to this moment and we’re going to do everything possible to bring back that trophy.”

Reaching this final caps a remarkable turnaround for Gareth Southgate’s side, who were heavily criticised after an underwhelming start to their campaign, but now stand as the first England men’s team to reach a major final overseas.

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For the second time in Southgate’s tenure they are now just one win from ending a wait for silverware that has run since the 1966 World Cup, and Kane is desperate to follow in the footsteps of the great Bobby Moore by captaining the side to glory.

“There was a lot of talk early, understandably, because we weren’t playing as well as I know we can,” said Kane, whose first-half penalty levelled the scores after Xavi Simons’ long-range strike had given the Dutch the lead.

England captain Harry Kane said there was no need to panic over the Three Lions slow start to Euro 2024 as he rounded on critics back home of their performances in Germany.

Gareth Southgate’s men have taken four points from their opening two games, but have not lived up to their billing as pre-tournament favourites.

Kane scored in Thursday’s disappointing 1-1 draw against Denmark after an edgy 1-0 win over Serbia.

 “We are calm. We have been here before. We’ve got a lot of experience, so it’s not a time to panic,” Kane told reporters. “I think always in these tournaments, especially these early stages, is almost like a boxer in the first couple of rounds trying to see where everyone is at, or a golfer in the first round of a major – don’t play yourself out of tournament. That’s kind of where we’re at.”

Victory against Slovenia tomorrow (June 25) will ensure that England top Group C and avoid a potential last 16 clash with Germany.

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 “If, before the tournament you’d have said we are where we are now, nearly qualified, we would have taken it for sure,” added Kane.

 “But we can be honest with ourselves that we haven’t played the way we want to play

 “Tuesday is important for the feeling of the group, we want to finish top and take the momentum into the knockout stages and just all round have a better feeling coming off the pitch to take that into the rest of the tournament.”

Kane was on the end of a barrage of personal criticism from former England strikers Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer as England’s performance against Denmark was lambasted in the media.

England have not won a major men’s tournament since the 1966 World Cup and produced their best ever performance at the Euros three years ago when they lost the final on penalties to Italy.

Kane said he understood pundits have to give their opinions but called for some perspective from former players.

 “The bottom line is we’re trying to achieve something that as an England team we’ve never achieved in our history, so it’s very tough,” added the Bayern Munich striker.

 “What ex-players who are pundits now have got to realize is that it’s very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it or some players who are new to the environment.

 “The bottom line is we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that as well, and they know how tough it is.

 “It is not digging anyone out, it is just the reality that they know it’s tough to play in these major tournaments and tough to play for England.”

Harry Kane insisted England will find the right formula for Euro 2024 success despite their lacklustre display in  the  1-1 draw against Denmark.

Gareth Southgate’s side would have qualified for the last 16 as Group C winners if they had defeated the Danes in Frankfurt.

England captain Kane gave them the perfect start with a clinical close-range finish from Kyle Walker’s deflected cross in the 18^th  minute.

But England lost their momentum after that and Denmark drew level after 34 minutes when Morten Hjulmand blasted a superb 30-yard drive past Jordan Pickford.

It was hardly the kind of display that will strike fear into England’s rivals, with the incoherent effort coming after they were fortunate to escape with a 1-0 win against Serbia in their group opener last weekend.

But Bayern Munich striker Kane is adamant England will eventually fire on all cylinders.

 “I think we said before the tournament there are no easy games and I think that’s showing,” he said.

 “We’ve got levels we can reach and we can be better both with and without the ball.

 “The sign of a good team is when you’re not playing at your best and still find a way to get results like we have in the last two games.”

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England are still on course to reach the last 16 as they sit top of the group with four points heading into their last game against Slovenia.

But they will want to win the group, which would likely ensure an easier draw in the last 16.

Former England players including Alan Shearer and Rio Ferdinand were scathing in their criticism of the Three Lions’ latest limp showing in Germany.

While Kane acknowledged there would be doubters after the performance, he expects England to ride out the storm.

 “We’re top of the group. We know we can improve. I know there will probably be loads of noise and a bit of disappointment back home.

 “We experienced this in the last Euros as well when we drew to Scotland. Step by step, we’ll get there.”

Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski’s record for most Bundesliga goals in a season after scoring twice in a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, but the England striker acknowledges he needs “to get a move on”.

Kane scored on either side of half-time on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, while also putting him over the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.

The 30-year-old has netted 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, six short of Lewandowski’s 41 in the 2020-21 season.

Read Also: Kane leads Europe’s Golden Boot race

Asked about the possibility of breaking the record with three games left to play in Bayern’s league campaign, Kane said: “It’s possible, but obviously I have to get a move on.

“I’ve got to maybe score a few goals next week. It’s there, it’s in touching distance. It depends on the last few games of course. But it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team.”

Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane is currently leading the way in the race for the Golden Boot, the prize awarded for the top scorer in Europe in a given season.

Kane struck once again in Bayern’s victory at Union Berlin on Matchday 30, taking his Bundesliga tally to 33 for the season and putting him way out in front ahead of the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé and Lautaro Martínez.

The Golden Boot was introduced by UEFA in 1967/68, but has been awarded by the European Sports Media (ESM) since 1997.

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Two Bundesliga players have previously received the gong, both of them Bayern stars: Gerd Müller in 1969/70 and 1971/72, and Robert Lewandowski in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

And now Kane is on course to follow suit this term, averaging a goal every 80 minutes in Germany’s top flight. The current top 10 also includes VfB Stuttgart forward Serhou Guirassy, who has 25 goals, and Leipzig attacker Loïs Openda on 23.

Last year’s winner was former Borussia Dortmund forward Haaland, who found the net 36 times for Manchester City.

Golden Boot race’s  top 10

Harry Kane (Bayern), 66 Points, 33 goals

Serhou Guirassy (VfB Stuttgart), 50 Points, 25 goals

Kylian Mbappé (PSG), 48 Points, 24 goals

Lautaro Martínez (Inter), 46 Points, 23 goals

Loïs Openda (RB Leipzig), 46 Points, 23 goals

Erling Haaland (Man City), 40 Points, 20 goals

Cole Palmer (Chelsea), 40 points, 20 goals

Vangelis Pavlidis ( Alkmaar), 39 points, 26 goals

Luuk de Jong (PSV), 39 points, 26 goals

Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), 38 points, 19 goals

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane returned to north London to score his customary goal against Arsenal as the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie ended 2-2.

The former Tottenham Hotspur player, so often Arsenal’s nemesis in north London derbies, stroked home a penalty in the 32nd  minute as the Bundesliga side came from behind to lead 2-1.

Premier League leaders Arsenal, playing in their first Champions League quarter-final for 14 years, had gone in front early on with a clinical Bukayo Saka strike.

But Arsenal were stunned as their former striker Serge Gnabry levelled six minutes later and then Kane rolled home his 39th  goal of the season in all competitions after Leroy Sane was fouled in the box.

Arsenal will head to Bavaria for next week’s second leg full of hope though after substitute Leandro Trossard equalised in the 76th  minute to leave the tie hanging in the balance.

The return of Kane to one of his favourite haunts was the big talking point before the game.

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Predictably, the forward who scored a record 14 goals for Tottenham in the north London derby, was booed every time he touched the ball although the England captain was hardly involved in the early exchanges.

Bayern, whose disappointing season now rests on trying to win the competition for a seventh time, initially looked comfortable despite having no fans inside the Emirates as punishment for crowd trouble in the previous round.

But they were undone in the 12th  minute when Ben White played the ball inside to Saka who had time to pick his spot and curl a low left-footed shot beyond Manuel Neuer.

White should have made it 2-0 soon afterwards but shot straight at Neuer and it proved costly as Arsenal’s defence, so impregnable in the Premier League of late, went missing.

They carelessly lost possession in the 18th  minute and Bayern punished them as Leon Goretzka slipped a perfect pass to Gnabry who clipped a finish past the on-rushing David Raya.