Bayern Munich 3-0 VfB Stuttgart – Harry Kane bags double as Bayern brush aside visitors in Bundesliga clash

Harry Kane reached the 20-goal mark in the Bundesliga, netting twice as Bayern Munich cruised to a 3-0 victory over Stuttgart.

Bayern came into the game under pressure after being thrashed 5-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt last week, but this was soon dissipated when Kane opened the scoring after two minutes with Leroy Sane having squared the ball to him to tap home.

Although Stuttgart had more possession in the match, Bayern were always the more threatening with the lightning runs with and without the ball of Leroy Sane and the clever passes of Thomas Muller and Kane forever a threat.

The hosts should have doubled their lead after 25 minutes when Kim Min-Jae headed home Aleksandar Petrovic’s free kick, but a VAR fault meant the linesman’s initial call that the Korean was offside from a free kick stood when it appeared he was onside.

Kane doubled the lead 10 minutes after the break, heading home from close range after Kim nodded back Pavlovic’s corner, to set a record by hitting the 20-goal milestone in just his 14th game.

A Pavlovic set piece was the source for the third also when Kim’s header was deflected past Alexander Nubel by Anthony Rouault.

The result keeps Bayern within four points of leaders Bayer Leverkusen with a game in hand.

What a wonderfully composed player the young midfielder appears to be. Making just his second start at the age of 19, comparatively old considering Musiala was a fully established regular by then, he cut a confident figure playing holding midfield for the Bavarian outfit and is likely to play a lot more this season, especially with Joshua Kimmich potential leaving the Allianz Arena in January. The partnership of Kimmich and Leon Goretzka has been widely criticised which only makes Pavlovic’s emergence even more timely. It is believed Thomas Tuchel has his eye on bringing in a number six, but the Bayern hierarchy may tell him he already has one. Like Owen Hargreaves many years ago, he also takes responsibility from dead ball situations, where his delivery tonight was wonderful. The wickedly curling trajectory he gets on his centres helped Kim score the goal which never was in the first half and then the centre back to score from a corner for the third, as well as a pre-assist for Kane’s second. Often, becoming a regular in the Bayern side is closely followed by playing in the German side and wildly premature as it is to say, he could even be a late addition to Hansi Flick’s squad for the hosts in the European Championships next summer.

The South Korean international like his defensive team-mates had a night to forget in Frankfurt last week when Bayern supporters would have bemoaned how he and team-mates were not fit to lace the boots of the likes of Der Kaieser, Klaus Augenthaler, Lucio and Javi Martinez. Today he looked a dominant centre back, snuffing out balls through to the forwards and an indomitable force in the air in both areas.

Bayern: Neuer 7, Laimer 6, Upamecano 7, Min-Jae Kim 9*, Davies 7; Pavlovic 8, Guerreiro 6; Sane 8, Muller 7, Musiala 7; Kane 8.

Subs: Tel 6, Choupo-Moting 6, Kratzig.

Stuttgart: Nubel 7; Vagnoman 5, Anton 6, Zagadou 6, Mittelstadt 7; Stiller 5, Karazor 6; Millot 6, Fuhrich 6; Guirassy 6, Undav 6.

Subs: Rouault 6, Lewling 6, Stergiou 6, Yeong 6, Mvumpa 6.

2′ GOAL FOR BAYERN! Who else but Harry Kane putting bed any residual bad feeling from last week’s result with the earliest of goals? Sane ran onto a ball just outside the right hand side of the area beating the goalkeeper to the ball and then when he came under pressure he slid the ball square for Kane to score the simplest of goals.

25′ GOAL FOR BAYERN! Kim heads home for his first Bayern goal. Pavlovic curled in a superb inswinging cross from the left flank begging to be headed home and that is what the centre back did from eight yards out.

26′ GOAL DISALLOWED! He must have been a fraction offside. No replay has been shown yet. In fact the VAR was not working and they have gone with the linesman’s decison.

29′ GREAT STOP FROM NUBEL! And it needed it. A lightning Bayern counter-attack as Musiala found Sane and he drove towards the area, used Muller’s run as a decoy, and fired low just inside the post but the Stuttgart stopper was equal to it.

55′ GOAL FOR BAYERN! Kane scores his second and brings up his 20th goal in the Bundesliga this season. A lovely dinked free kick a few yards in from the corner flag from Pavlovic and Kim headed back across the goal where the English striker under no pressure nodded home.

63′ GOAL FOR BAYERN! Another goal coming from Pavlovic’s set-piece delivery. His ball is headed towards goal by Kim and deflected in off Roualt.