Harry Kane achieved a new personal milestone, scoring 31 league goals in a single season, as Bayern Munich secured a victory over Darmstadt to reduce the deficit to Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen to seven points.
Darmstadt initially took the lead through Tim Skarke, but Jamal Musiala quickly equalized for Bayern Munich. Harry Kane’s diving header then put Bayern ahead, and Musiala later dribbled past the Darmstadt defense to score his second goal. Substitute Serge Gnabry and Mathys Tel added two more goals for Bayern, while Oscar Vilhelmsson scored Darmstadt’s second.
Despite being at the bottom of the table, Darmstadt posed a few threats to Bayern in the first half. However, they began to tire in the second half as Bayern asserted control.
There was a moment of concern for England captain Kane in the second half when he appeared to injure his ankle after colliding with a goalpost. Kane was substituted in the 82nd minute following the incident, and Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel expressed uncertainty about the severity of the injury.
“He slipped and fell into the net and twisted his ankle,” said Tuchel. “He’s cooling it down with ice and we don’t have a diagnosis yet.
“When Harry goes off it’s never a good sign because Harry never goes off when there’s still goals to score.”
Records continue to tumble for Kane
Prior to his time at Bayern Munich, Kane had scored 30 goals in two separate Premier League seasons while playing for Tottenham Hotspur.
In addition, Kane has now set a new record for the most goals in a Bundesliga debut season, surpassing the previous record of 30 goals set by Uwe Seeler for Hamburg in the 1963-64 season, which marked the inaugural season of the Bundesliga.
Kane will make a return to England for the Champions League quarter-finals next month as Bayern faces his former club Arsenal. Notably, he has scored 14 goals against Arsenal in 19 appearances.
The first leg of the quarter-final tie will be held at the Emirates Stadium on 9 April, with the return leg scheduled for a week later on 17 April.