BERLIN (AP) — Harry Kane to the rescue again.
The England forward scored twice for Bayern Munich to beat Leipzig 2-1 in the Bundesliga and snap its three-game losing streak across all competitions on Saturday.
Kane secured three points for the Bavarian powerhouse by scoring in the first minute of stoppage time, taking his tally to 27 goals in 23 Bundesliga appearances for Bayern.
Victory in Bayern’s 1,000th home match in the Bundesliga kept it eight points behind leader Bayer Leverkusen with 11 rounds remaining.
Bayern had previously lost 3-0 at Leverkusen, then 1-0 at Lazio in the Champions League, before Bochum came from behind to win 3-2 in the Bundesliga last weekend.
It prompted the club to announce on Wednesday that coach Thomas Tuchel would leave at the end of the season.
“We’re all in the same boat,” Bayern forward Thomas Müller said. “Of course, it hasn’t been an easy time as a Bayern player with three defeats in one week and so we’re very happy today,”
Tuchel needed some time after Kane scored the winner to celebrate, and then only after being prompted by Müller.
“I’m just happy for the players, for the effort, for the performance,” Tuchel said. “It’s good because Harry scored, which was also very important for him and for us. Leverkusen has won enough games very, very late. It’s our turn now.”
There was a minute’s silence before the match for 1990 World Cup-winner Andreas Brehme, who died during the week. Bayern players also wore black armbands for the game.
Bayern created more chances, with Leipzig reserve ‘keeper Janis Blaswich pulling off a great save to deny Kane early on.
England coach Gareth Southgate was there to see Kane and defender Eric Dier in action. But Southgate must also have heard some unhappy Bayern fans’ whistles at halftime.
Tuchel found a metal box to sit on during the first half, and he went looking for it so he could sit on it in the second half, too.
Amadou Haidara forced a save from Bayern’s Manuel Neuer after the break before Mohamed Simakan went close for Leipzig as the visitors displayed more ambition.
But then Kane struck after a good run from Jamal Musiala on a counterattack in the 56th.
Neuer stopped Benjamin Šeško in a one-on-one in the 61st, but couldn’t stop the Slovenian scoring in the 70th when he was deceived by Leon Goretzka’s deflection.
Kane prevented another disappointment for Bayern.
“We played the better game and therefore we deserved to win,” Neuer said.
VAR DENIES DARMSTADT
Last-place Darmstadt had two late goals ruled out by VAR and conceded an own-goal as it was held 1-1 at Werder Bremen.
Tim Skarke thought he’d won the game in the seventh minute of injury time for Darmstadt, but the goal was ruled out as the ball had hit his arm from Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer’s attempted clearance.
Skarke had another goal ruled out for offside in the 78th, and Christoph Zimmermann’s own-goal in the eighth minute gave Bremen a share of the points.
Third-place Stuttgart was held 1-1 by visiting Cologne. It was still six points ahead of Borussia Dortmund before Dortmund plays Hoffenheim on Sunday.
Union Berlin and promoted Heidenheim also drew, 2-2, earning a point each in their fight against relegation.
Also, Borussia Mönchengladbach defeated Bochum 5-2.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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