Butterflies for Kane on Bundesliga debut but he scores as Bayern routs Bremen
BERLIN (AP) — Harry Kane said he had “a few butterflies” before his Bundesliga debut. They didn't show.
The England captain scored one goal and set up another as Bayern Munich routed Werder Bremen 4-0 away in the opening game of the season on Friday.
Kane, who finally completed his protracted transfer from Tottenham last weekend, showed straight away why Bayern reportedly paid more than 100 million euros ($110 million) for the forward.
“There was a bit of nervous excitement to play the game,” Kane said. “New surroundings for me, extremely excited to get the season started with my new club and a massive club. So for sure there was a few butterflies. But as always, I feel once I get on the pitch, you know, instinct takes over and I just play my normal game.”
Kane needed only three minutes to set Leroy Sané free for the opener, before he finally beat Bremen’s Jiří Pavlenka with a low shot in the 74th. A Bremen defender’s studs deflected the shot slightly inside the left post.
The England captain went off shortly afterward with what looked like a cramp, one of three late changes by Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.
Substitute Thomas Müller set up Sané for the third goal in the final minute then Alphonso Davies set up Mathys Tel, another substitute, to complete the scoring in injury time.
The home team's best period was just after the halftime break.
“They came out in the second half and had a few chances, made it difficult, but then it was nice to get that second goal, and then the boys off the bench come on and finished the job for us," Kane said.
It started with Kane dinking a clever ball forward into space from inside his own half to set Sané free to open the scoring on a counterattack. Bremen’s defense should have done better.
“We had a few more chances in the first half that we probably could have done a bit better with, to kind of put the game away early. But then we defended better,” Kane said. “We were a lot better getting the first contact, and we spoke about that. If we want to be a competitive team this season in all competitions, set-pieces are a big part of that. So really happy with a clean sheet as well. It’s going to be important going forward for the rest of the season.”
Fellow summer signing Kim Min-jae also made his first league start for Bayern, which is bidding to extend its record of 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles.
There was a minute’s silence before the game for former Bremen player Horst-Dieter Höttges, who died in July. Höttges was a member of West Germany’s victorious 1974 World Cup squad.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
