In the eagerly awaited duel, VfB Stuttgart can keep up for a long time. But then Harry Kane makes several big appearances.
FC Bayern is back on the road to success: The German record champions won the top Bundesliga game against VfB Stuttgart 4-0 (0-0) on Saturday evening, thus securing their first win after three competitive games without a threesome.
Harry Kane was also able to overcome a short dry spell – and became man of the game: The English international first scored with a remarkable long-range shot from 25 meters to make it 1-0 (57th), then added his second goal a little later (61st) and crowned his performance in the final phase (80th). Kane had recently gone four competitive games without scoring. Kingsley Coman then scored the final score (89th).
In a long-fought game, Bayern were visually superior, but coach Vincent Kompany’s team failed to convert this dominance into scoring opportunities. So Stuttgart stayed in the game and had a few opportunities. Especially in the second half of the game, the hosts improved again and achieved a deserved success. Bayern are now back in first place in the table with 17 points, level on points with RB Leipzig, who briefly overtook them with their 2-0 win at Mainz 05 in the afternoon.
After the three top games without a win, Kompany made minor changes. In terms of personnel, he stuck with his team from the wild duel with Eintracht, but he allowed them to act a little more cautiously. Nevertheless, Bayern, who were more stable in their passing game, played dominantly.
This created good opportunities early on. Stuttgart rarely came in front of the Munich goal like national player Deniz Undav (4th) after a bad pass from Alphonso Davies. In an attempt to get behind the opposing defense, VfB used an unusual amount of long balls.
Sebastian Hoeneß had brought in four new players, and Kompany was soon forced to change: After an aerial duel with Fabian Rieder, Pavlović landed unhappily on the pitch and was unable to continue playing. New signing João Palhinha came in to replace him.
Without magic foot Jamal Musiala, who was sitting in the stands with an ailment and a black cap, the record champions lacked a brilliant idea in the first half. His representative Thomas Müller had a hard time, striker Kane still lacked precision.
In the 51st minute he slipped past a sharp cross from Serge Gnabry. The 1-0, which captain Joshua Kimmich opened in his 400th Bundesliga game by winning the ball, was scored with a rare long-range shot from 25 meters. Nübel had the corner but let the ball pass.
Shortly afterwards, the goalkeeper saved once against Kane. But he didn’t let himself be deterred and shot again a little later from the crowd – and completed his hat trick in the final phase.