Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer kept a clean sheet in his long-awaited comeback and Harry Kane scored a hat-trick including a strike from the midfield line as Bayern Munich went top in the Bundesliga with an 8-0 thrashing of Darmstadt during which three men were sent off on Saturday, reported dpa.
Bayern's Joshua Kimmich lasted a mere four minutes, and Darmstadt's Klaus Gjasula and Matej Maglica got their marching orders in the 21st and 41st minute, respectively – all for last-man fouls.
It was the first time in the league's 60-year history that three players were dismissed in a first half.
Kane broke the deadlock in the 51st as Bayern went on a seven-goal rampage within 25 minutes before the England captain also wrapped up matters in the 88th. His second in the 69th was the pick of the bunch as he beat stranded goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen from inside the Bayern half.
“Scoring a hat-trick is always an amazing feeling for a striker. But the thanks go to my teammates who created a lot of chances for me. The ball will obviously take a special place at home," Kane said.
Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala scored twice, with Thomas Müller getting the other as Bayern stormed into first place one point ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who host Freiburg on Sunday.
Their 34 goals after nine games are a league record and they are the third team to score eight goals in one half, the others being Borussia Dortmund who hit 10 in a 11-1 against Arminia Bielefeld in 1982, and Borussia Mönchengladbach who scored eight in a 10-0 against Borussia Neunkirchen in 1967.
VfB Stuttgart could have also taken the league lead but without their injured Bundesliga top scorer Serhou Guirassy lost 3-2 against Hoffenheim who maintained their perfect season record away from home.
After getting their first Bundesliga win of the season last weekend, Cologne had no chance against a dominant RB Leipzig and were defeated 6-0.
Timo Werner got Leipzig's opener from the spot in the 15th before Lois Openda scored a brace and David Raum got one for himself as Leipzig scored four goals in the first half. Benjamin Sesko and Christoph Baumgartner completed the scoring late in the second half.
Union Berlin suffered a 10th straight defeat in all competitions 2-0 at Werder Bremen and had Rani Khedira sent off, Borussia Mönchengladbach got their first home win 2-1 over Heidenheim, and Augsburg beat Wolfsburg 3-2.
Bochum drew 2-2 with bottom club Mainz on Friday, and the other Sunday game is Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern and Germany captain Neuer had not played in 331 days since suffering a lower leg fracture during a ski tour on December 9. His last Bayern match was on November 12 and his last overall on December 1 for Germany at the World Cup in Qatar.
"I was positively excited and was really happy to play in front of the fans and be on the pitch. There were ups and downs but I always wanted to return and I was very ambitious," Neuer told Sky TV.
His 487th Bayern match started in the worst possible way when Kimmich failed to control his pass outside the Munich penalty area, lost the ball to Marvin Mehlem and pulled down the Darmstadt player to be given his marching orders.
The red card means that Kimmich will miss next weekend's big match at rivals Dortmund.
"The red card was very silly. And I'm very annoyed that I'm missing the game against Dortmund," Kimmich said. He admitted it was his "own fault" but thought the red card was excessive.
"I tugged him, but was not responsible for his fall," the player said.
Parity on the pitch was restored less than 20 minutes later when Gjasula was sent off for a foul on Konrad Laimer, and Darmstadt were down to nine when Maglica also had to go for bringing down Kane.
Neuer's biggest save came against Mehlem and it took Bayern until six minutes after the restart before Kane finally broke the deadlock with a diving header off Noussair Mazraoui's cross from the right.
Nine-man Darmstadt collapsed, with Sane tapping the second in the 56th and on target again for 4-0 in the 64th after Musiala's low shot in the 59th.
Kane then scored from midfield in the 69th, before Müller in the 71st and Musiala in the 76th added to Darmstadt's woes and Kane completed his hat-trick, making him the first player to get 12 goals in the first nine Bundesliga games.
- Bayern
- Kane hat-trick
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
