MUNICH: Harry Kane ended his goal drought by scoring twice in three minutes to help Bayern Munich beat Union Saint-Gilloise 2-0 in the Champions League, confirming their place in the knockout stages with one match remaining.
The England striker scored the opening goal with a header from Michael Olise’s corner in the 52nd minute, before adding a second goal from a penalty kick three minutes later after being brought down in the penalty area.
Kane, who was named man of the match, now leads the tournament’s top scorers with seven goals. He came close to completing a hat-trick in the 80th minute but his second penalty just went over the bar.
Bayern were forced to play with 10 men starting in the 64th minute when defender Kim Min-jae was shown a second yellow card.
The victory placed Bayern in second place in the league phase with 18 points and ensured a top eight position, thus automatically qualifying for the round of 16.
The top eight teams advance directly to the knockout round, while the remaining 16 compete in the play-off round.
“This is the Champions League, it’s not always easy. The first half was a bit slow, but we also had chances.
“In the second half we played very well despite being one player short. The team’s response was very strong,” said Bayern manager Vincent Kompany.
The match took place in an unusual atmosphere as the seats of Bayern’s diehard fans, Suedkurve, at the Allianz Arena were empty following UEFA’s punishment regarding the use of flares in the previous match.
Bayern controlled the game from the start and almost opened the scoring early through Kane.
However, Union almost stole the goal in the 29th minute but was saved by Manuel Neuer who denied Promise David’s close-range header.
Union, who are 31st overall, tried to fight back after Bayern played with 10 men, but the home team remained dominant and came close to adding to the score through Kane and Oliseh, but the score remained 2-0 until the end of the match.