Send it like Beckham! Kane scores from his own half in goal blitz
HARRY KANE scored an outrageous goal from inside his own half and a hat-trick as Bayern Munich produced a second-half onslaught to crush Darmstadt.
The England skipper scored first and last as ten-man Bayern ran riot against their opponents, who were down to nine men before half-time.
But it was the goal in-between — Bayern’s fifth, a wonder strike from his own half — which brought the Allianz Arena to its feet.
Kane collected the ball in the centre circle, spotted Marcel Schuhen off his line and, channelling his inner David Beckham, launched his shot under the bar past the backpedalling Darmstadt keeper from more than 60 yards.
‘Obviously one of my better goals that I’ve scored in my career so far for my second one,’ Kane posted on Instagram. ‘I’d seen the keeper off his line throughout the first half and I’m always looking out [for that] through every game. And of course I’ve tried to score from the halfway line a few times. But this one came off perfectly. Obviously just dipped under the bar and gave the keeper no chance’.
It was the latest astonishing highlight in a phenomenal start to his Bayern career, with 12 goals in nine Bundesliga matches.
It was his second hattrick for Bayern since his £100million switch from Tottenham in summer and poses a problem about what to do with the match balls. ‘I’m just keeping them in my hotel room at the moment because I’m still waiting to find a house.’ Kane is already the fastest man to double figures in Germany’s top flight and has scored 14 in all competitions, having added a couple in the Champions League. And when you throw in three England goals, Kane has scored 17 in his last 16 matches for club and country.
Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel added: ‘He’s a pleasure to have at the club and looks like scoring all the time. That goal from our half was fantastic.’
It wasn’t the first time either: Kane did something similar against Juventus in a pre-season match four years ago but it was unquestionably the high point of a second half that no one saw coming when the teams went in at half-time at 0-0.
Bayern had a one-man advantage. After four minutes, referee Martin Petersen sent off Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich and he was followed by Darmstadt’s Klaus Gjasula and Matej Maglica.
Kane opened with a close-range header in the 51st minute, Leroy Sane then grabbed two either side of a goal from Jamal Musiala before Kane’s wonderful goal. Thomas Muller added the sixth, Musiala got his second before Kane rounded off the rout. ‘It was an unusual game,’ said Tuchel with masterly understatement. ‘I don’t think anyone saw it ending that way.’ Bayern and Germany keeperManuel Neuer made his comeback 11 months after breaking his left leg in a skiing accident. ‘This is the happiest I’ve been after a game for a long time,’ he said.