LAST UPDATE | 24 Nov 2023
HARRY KANE CONTINUED his brilliant Bundesliga form by scoring the winner in Bayern Munich’s 1-0 win over Cologne.
Kane scored a first-half tap-in to sink struggling Cologne and send Bayern top of the table overnight.
The England captain has now scored 22 goals in all competitions since joining Bayern in August, and has found the net in each of his last seven games in all competitions.
Cologne approached the game with their usual gung-ho attitude, pressing high and occasionally managing to unsettle Bayern.
Yet Bayern repeatedly tore through their hosts on the counter-attack, and could have been several goals ahead by the half-hour mark.
Leroy Sane missed two good chances early on, before Kane finally broke the deadlock on 20 minutes.
A quick transition from Bayern left Cologne outnumbered in the box, as Sane sliced through the middle to set up Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Cologne defender Julian Chabot blocked Choupo-Moting’s on the line, but Kane was on hand to tap in the rebound.
It was the 30-year-old’s 18th Bundesliga goal this season, taking his tally to double that of Cologne’s team total.
The hosts then continued to ride their luck as Kane bombarded their high back line with devastating through balls.
Sane scooped another good chance wide of the post, while Marvin Schwaebe denied Kingsley Coman with a sharp save.
Cologne defended bravely in the second half, as a dominant Bayern side repeatedly failed to put the game beyond reach.
Sane had another attempt blocked by Chabot, before Coman flicked a header against the crossbar.
The narrow win saw Bayern leapfrog Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table, with Xabi Alonso’s side able to regain top spot when they play Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Ousmane Dembele scored his first Paris Saint-Germain goal in stunning fashion as the reigning French champions crushed Monaco 5-2 in Ligue 1 to cement their lead at the top of the table.
Goncalo Ramos opened the scoring early on for PSG but a howler by home goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma gifted Takumi Minamino the equaliser soon after.
However, Kylian Mbappe’s penalty against his former club restored PSG’s lead and two superb goals in the space of three second-half minutes by Dembele and Vitinha put the game out of sight.
Folarin Balogun pulled another back for Monaco but substitute Randal Kolo Muani put the seal on PSG’s win in stoppage time.
Paris have now won seven and drawn one of their last eight Ligue 1 games and this result moved them four points clear of second-placed Nice, who are in action on Sunday. Monaco remain third but are now six points adrift of the leaders.
The result, which was achieved despite captain Marquinhos and teenage midfield prodigy Warren Zaire-Emery both missing out through injury, was a boost for Luis Enrique’s team ahead of a crucial home Champions League clash with Newcastle United.
