Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart to defend top spot in Bundesliga

Berlin: Bayern Munich remain top of the table after Harry Kane’s second-half hat-trick paved the way for a 4-0 win over Stuttgart in the seventh round of the Bundesliga season on Saturday.

Bayern took control from the kick-off and pinned the visitors back, but clear-cut chances were hard to come by in the opening 45 minutes.

Bayern came closest on 11 minutes when Serge Gnabry failed to connect with a dangerous square pass from Kane.

The crowd at the Allianz Arena had to wait until the 29th minute to see more half-chances, but Gnabry couldn’t convert Michael Olise’s good work, while Kane shot wide from a promising position two minutes later.

The German giants should have broken the deadlock six minutes into the second half, but Kane shot wide from Gnabry’s cut-back.

Kane finally broke the deadlock and ended his three-game goal drought, hammering the ball into the bottom left-hand corner from 25 meters in 57 minutes.

Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nubel had his hands full after denying Kane and Joao Palhinha in quick succession on the hour mark.

Kane turned his next chance into a tangible reward moments later when Stuttgart failed to clear the ball out of their area, allowing the England striker to fire home from close range.

The Englishman remained in the thick of things and completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute after collecting a rebound and slotting the ball past Nubel.

Stuttgart couldn’t offer any resistance, but Bayern weren’t done scoring as Kingsley Coman made the most of Thomas Muller’s assist to fire into the right-hand corner in the closing stages.

The result keeps Bayern at the top of the table, while Stuttgart drop to 9th.

In Saturday’s other matches, Leipzig stayed close on Bayern’s heels with a 2-0 win over Mainz thanks to goals from Xavi and Willi Orban.

Freiburg made it two wins in a row with a 3-1 victory over Augsburg. Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen stay in the top four after a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Bottom club Bochum remain winless as Hoffenheim won 3-1 and Borussia Monchengladbach came from behind to beat Heidenheim 3-2. IANS

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