Harry Kane's Hat-Trick Leads Bayern Munich to Victory Over Stuttgart
Harry Kane scored a hat-trick off the bench as Bayern Munich secured a convincing victory over 10-man Stuttgart.
The England forward was on the pitch for only 27 minutes before netting his third hat-trick of the Bundesliga season, bringing his total to 28 goals in all competitions after just 22 matches.
Konrad Laimer opened the scoring for Bayern within the first 10 minutes, skillfully flicking a cross from Michael Olise past Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nubel.
Stuttgart responded well, managing to find the back of the net just before halftime through Nikolas Nartey, but his header was disallowed for offside.
With a narrow lead, Bayern manager Vincent Kompany made a triple substitution in the 60th minute, including the introduction of top scorer Kane.
It took just five minutes for the change to pay off, as the England captain struck a stunning shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.
Fellow substitute Josip Stanisic then added a third goal before Kane scored his second and Bayern’s fourth from the penalty spot, following a straight red card issued to defender Lorenz Assignon for a deliberate handball.
Kane completed his hat-trick in the 87th minute, getting in front of his marker to tap in Olise’s cross from close range.
With this performance, Kane now has 17 Bundesliga goals this season, leading by nine over his nearest competitor for the Golden Boot, Jonathan Burkardt of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Looking ahead, Bayern will shift their focus to the Champions League, hosting Portuguese champions Sporting on Tuesday, December 9, at 17:45 GMT, while Stuttgart will welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League on Thursday at the same time.