Kane hits 20-goal mark as Bayern rout Stuttgart

Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane struck once in each half to steer Bayern Munich to a 3-0 victory over VfB Stuttgart on Sunday and cut the gap to leaders Bayer Leverkusen to four points with a game in hand.

The England captain, the league’s all-time record signing after his €100-million ($108.94-million) move from Tottenham Hotspur this season, has scored 20 times in his 14 league games so far.

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He is only the third player in the league’s history to reach that mark by or before the halfway stage, tying Robert Lewandowski and Gerd Müller for the fastest player to 20 goals in a season.

Meanwhile Bayern have netted in a league record-equalling 64th straight Bundesliga home game, matching their 1970-74 run.

Despite a string of injuries and the last-minute absences due to illness of Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, Bayern bagged the three points and are now on 35 with a game in hand, with Leverkusen top on 39 following their 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt earlier on Sunday.

“It was probably our best performance of the season so far,” Kane said. “We wanted to be dominant. We knew how dangerous they were and we limited them to just a few chances. It was great to score twice and help the team.”

The league takes a break after next week’s matches and will resume on Jan. 12.

Bayern were desperate to bounce back from last week’s shock 5-1 loss to Frankfurt and they needed just two minutes to score, with Kane tapping in from a Leroy Sane pass.

The Bavarians had the upper hand throughout and missed a bagful of chances with Stuttgart keeper Alexander Nuebel kept busy throughout.

Kane doubled their lead in the 55th after being left unmarked to head in following a cross from youngster Aleksandar Pavlovic.

Eight minutes later the visitors struck again with Kim Min-Jae’s deflected header wrongfooting Nuebel and killing off any hopes of a Stuttgart comeback in Bayern’s last home game of the year.