Kane nets goal in Bayerns thrilling turnaround against Leipzig
Harry Kane notched his 21st Bundesliga goal this season as Bayern Munich overturned a deficit to secure a 5-1 victory against RB Leipzig on Saturday.
This result reestablishes Bayerns 11-point advantage at the summit over runners-up Borussia Dortmund, sustaining their exceptional run.
Undefeated Bayern have surrendered only four points en route to matching their best ever haul of 50 points from 18 matches. Their 71 goals struck so far represent another benchmark for this point in a German top flight campaign.
Leipzig grabbed an early advantage via Romulo in the first period, yet Bayern surged after the interval with goals from Serge Gnabry, Kane, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Michael Olise.
Bayern manager Vincent Kompany remarked that Leipzig outperformed them by a wide margin during the initial 45 minutes, but noted "in the second half, goodness me, the players stepped up.
"We showed no fear and pushed hard."
Romulo, who scored for Leipzig, commented "we dominated for 75 minutes, then somehow we lost focus. We must take lessons from this."
Leipzig started brightly and went ahead on 20 minutes as Romulo slipped beyond Bayerns Tah to nudge in a close-range pass from Antonio Nusa.
The home side unravelled easily shortly after the restart. Dayot Upamecano stole the ball from Christoph Baumgartner and passed to Gnabry, who slotted it neatly into the far corner.
Bayern went in front on 67 minutes, profiting from yet another Leipzig error.
Michael Olises lofted delivery seemed innocuous until Ridle Baku slipped, leaving Kane free to fire into the net.
With Leipzigs defence in disarray, Tah, Pavlovic and Olise added goals in the closing 10 minutes, as Jamal Musiala made a substitute appearance late on following a six-month layoff due to injury.
Can saves Dortmund
Earlier on, Emre Can converted a penalty in the fifth minute of added time to spare Borussia Dortmund embarrassment in a 3-2 victory at home to struggling St Pauli.
In the final seconds, VAR spotted a challenge on German striker Maximilian Beier, prompting Dortmund skipper Can to take the kick.
"What an emotional journey," Can shared with Sky Germany.
"We must improve at calming the game and finishing opportunities," he continued.
Dortmund recovered from a subpar opening half where Julian Brandt poked home from near post just before halftime.
After setting up the first, Karim Adeyemi extended the lead to two goals in the 54th minute, latching onto a pass from Fabio Silva.
Bottom-of-the-table St Pauli, victorious only once since September, clawed back with strikes from James Sands and Ricky-Jade Jones within a 10-minute spell in the second half, shocking the home crowd.
Right at the end of stoppage time, Jones felled Beier just outside the box, enabling Can to slot the decisive penalty with composure.
In other action, Hoffenheims Wouter Burger netted the lone strike in a 1-0 triumph over faltering Bayer Leverkusen at home, leaping ahead of Leipzig into third position.
Burger curled in a superb free-kick after nine minutes to earn the win.
"This meant a lot," Burger said about his set-piece effort. "I worked on them earlier today."
Narrowly avoiding the drop last term, Hoffenheim are poised for a return to Europes elite tournament for only the second occasion, previously under current Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann in 2017/18.
Leverkusen have now dropped points in four of their last six outings, slipping three points adrift of the Champions League spots.
Cologne edged Mainz 2-1 on their own pitch, Wolfsburg shared a 1-1 stalemate at home with Heidenheim and Hamburg drew 0-0 against Borussia Moenchengladbach.