It says much about Harry Kane that Mohamed Salah’s attempt to portray him as a media darling was not even the most nonsensical thing that befell him this weekend.
Salah claimed in his explosive interview following Saturday night’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United that, by consigning him to the bench, Liverpool were attempting to blame him for the club’s wider problems. He went on to reference a time when Kane “was not scoring for 10 games”, but was shown understanding than has been afforded him.
In fact, as the sports analytics company Opta has pointed out, Kane’s longest top-flight run without scoring stands at six games. And while that statistic is impressive, the rate at which the England striker is finding the net for Bayern Munich is becoming nothing short of ludicrous.
The latest addition to his extraordinary numbers came in Stuttgart on Saturday, when Kane spent the first hour warming the bench. It took him just 27 minutes to transform a 1-0 lead into a comprehensive rout.
How Harry Kane came off the bench to score a 27-minute hat-trick
Barely had he been introduced in place of Nicolas Jackson than Kane was to be found striding through central midfield with the ball at his feet. Having reached the edge of the area, he fired home a precise finish for Bayern’s second. It was not long before he added another, coolly slotting in from 12 yards following a handball by Stuttgart defender Lorenz Assignon, and Kane completed his hat-trick three minutes from time, turning in a Michael Olise cross from close range.
It was the England skipper’s 10th three-goal salvo since his move from Tottenham to the Bundesliga two summers ago.
Already, only four players can claim to have done better: Gerd Muller, who scored 32; Robert Lewandowski, with 16; Klaus Fischer, who bagged a dozen; and Jupp Heynckes, who claimed 11.
While Muller’s position at the top of that list is no doubt secure, at the rate Kane is going, it will not be long before he overtakes Fischer and Heynckes; Lewandowski’s tally also remains a viable target assuming he remains in the league long enough. The England international has taken just 76 games to reach 10 Bundesliga hat-tricks – 85 fewer than Muller, 248 less than Muller, and 165 fewer than Fischer. Kane is rewriting the record books.
Harry Kane hat-trick brings up a new personal best
Kane has now scored 28 goals in 22 games across all competitions for Bayern this season, and a remarkable 79 in 76 games for the club overall. It takes his tally for the calendar year to 58, eclipsing his previous personal best by two with three games to play before the Bundesliga pauses for its annual winter break.
Yet it is the fact that Kane did not even need a full 90 minutes to reach his latest milestone that seems most absurd. If he was perturbed by starting on the bench, it did not show.
“It’s not something I’m used to,” he said, “but I did it a couple of times this season. “The boss [Vincent Kompany] wanted to keep me fresh and save energy. I came on after 60 minutes with a couple of other guys and we were able to exploit the space and get the goals.”
The contrast with Salah’s response to being benched could not be more marked.
