New Straits Times

KANE CHASES LEWANDOWSK­I’S BUNDESLIGA GOAL RECORD

Englishman scores twice in Bayern’s win over Eintracht

- LEVERKUSEN

ROBERT Andrich scored with the last kick of the match to extend Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten run to a 46th game this season with a 2-2 home draw against Stuttgart on Saturday as Harry Kane closed in a Bundesliga goals record.

With champions Leverkusen facing their first loss of the season in any competitio­n trailing 21 late in stoppage time, Andrich hammered in a loose ball to equalise in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The strike keeps Leverkusen’s remarkable streak of late goals alive, with Xabi Alonso’s side doing the same at Borussia Dortmund in the seventh minute of injury time for a 1-1 draw last week.

Two goals in the space of nine minutes to start the second half from Chris Fuehrich and Deniz Undav put Stuttgart on course, with Amine Adli pulling one back after 61 minutes.

Leverkusen built pressure but could not break through, putting their hopes of becoming the first team to go a full Bundesliga season without defeat in doubt.

But they then won a free kick and Florian Wirtz curled the ball into the box, Andrich snapping up a rebound to score.

Alonso’s side have now won or equalised in stoppage time 10 times this season in all competitio­ns. “We tried until the end,” Alonso told Sky. “That first goal from Amine gave us belief — and gave us a push.”

Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness said the loss was “hard to believe — in our view, it was very unlucky”.

Kane scored twice in Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt to set a new personal record for goals in a season.

Kane scored in each half, finishing off a tearing Konrad Laimer run and converting a penalty, to raise his league tally to 35 goals in 31 games.

Kane is now six goals shy of Robert Lewandowsk­i’s all-time single-season Bundesliga goals record from 2020/21. He has hit a personal best of 42 goals in all competitio­ns this campaign.

The England captain’s goals came either side of a Hugo Ekitike stunner, a day after the Frenchman became a permanent Frankfurt player.

Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller said his side was “in a good flow”, saying since getting past Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals “we’ve been getting better, we’ve got a grip on things”.

Despite the victory, which solidified Bayern’s chances of a second-placed finish, both Laimer and defender Matthijs de Ligt were subbed off with injury just days before Tuesday’s home Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

Dortmund, Germany’s other Champions League semi-finalist, had a setback ahead of hosting Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, being thoroughly outclassed in a 4-1 defeat at Leipzig.

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