Kane completes hat-trick, Bayern put four past Hoffenheim | OneFootball

Reigning German champions FC Bayern München visited Sinsheim in the state of Baden-Württemberg, looking to maintain their undefeated record through a fourth consecutive match. Vincent Kompany's side, who were the only ones to take nine points from nine in their first three matches, faced Christian Ilzer's TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, who were 2-0-1 and sixth in the current campaign going into today.

The 2024/25 season saw Bayern defeat Hoffenheim 5-0 at home and 4-0 away, in the head-to-head between the two sides; to add to this, Hoffenheim were 1-6-7 in their last fourteen matches at home, and Bayern went into this match unbeaten in twelve consecutive Bundesliga matches, with their most recent defeat having been 2-3 to an eventually relegated VfL Bochum on 8 March.

The hosts kicked off the match, looking to prove statistics wrong and surprise the nation. Despite holding just 17% possession in the first fifteen minutes, the hosts would win a dangerous free kick just outside the Bayern penalty area; Leon Avdullahu would cross it into the centre of the box, flicked in midair by Wouter Burger but bouncing out for a goal kick to Bayern.

Within the next two minutes, Hoffenheim would get an even better chance to open the scoring. Neuer followed with a rare mishap, on what was supposed to be a routine pass to Kim Min-jae along the back line; he gave the ball away to an unopposed Fisnik Asllani, who was unable to make it count. Asllani's shot towards the bottom-right corner hit the goalpost and ultimately rolled out of play.

In the seventeenth minute, Harry Kane would get a chance on the other side, getting on the end of a ground pass from Nicolas Jackson and powering an attempt towards the top-left corner from well outside the Hoffenheim penalty area. Oliver Baumann would deflect it away for a corner, and on the ensuing set piece, Muhammed Damar would touch the ball with his shoulder. The Bayern players were convinced that the 21-year-old midfielder committed a handball, but a lengthy VAR check led to a confirmation of no penalty from head official Robert Hartmann.

The hosts would win a corner six minutes after the check finished, following a Jonathan Tah clearance; Damar would swing the cross far-post, headed off the ground and over the bar by Bernardo.

Asllani would generate another chance for Hoffenheim in the twenty-fifth minute, breaking free of Kim Min-jae and sending a pass to Avdullahu; the latter would be pushed to the ground by Konrad Laimer, but from Hartmann's angle, he believed that Avdullahu touched the ball - thus, the ruling was a clean tackle, and no penalty.

Alexander Prass would manage another shot on target for the hosts in the thirty-fifth minute, running into open space on the left side of the box and at the same time, receiving a ground pass from Damar. Prass would launch a left-footed shot at Neuer in the following seconds, but the veteran goalkeeper would punch the ball away for a corner - one that Hoffenheim could not take advantage of.

Lennart Karl collided with Bernardo in the forty-first minute, as the latter's elbow hit the former while the two contested for the ball in the midfield; Bernardo would clear Karl's following free kick cross for a corner to the visitors. From that set piece, Karl would pass into open space on the right side of the box, allowing Harry Kane to run into the open space before lifting the ball over Baumann, into the top-right corner.

Despite falling 0-1 behind before halftime, Hoffenheim would not give up. Bazoumana Touré's cross from the left side of the box was lifted to Damar on the other side of the Bayern penalty area; all Damar needed to do was tap the ball into the gap between Kim and Konrad Laimer, but Kim reacted with a swift header to send it out for a corner.

That would be the last notable play of the first 45, as both teams went into the break with the score 1-0 to Bayern. Bayern held 61% possession and a better pass accuracy, 88% on 273 passes compared to 74% on 165; however, Hoffenheim outshot them 9-5, with shots on target being 4-3 to Bayern.

Bayern would win a penalty within the first minute of the second half, as Sacha Boey's hard shot from the edge of the box deflected off the hand of Albian Hajdari. Baumann guessed the right way on the following penalty, but could not reach far enough to stop Kane from smashing his right-footed attempt into the bottom-right corner. It was Kane's second of the day, his sixth in the current Bundesliga campaign, and Bayern were now ahead by two goals to none.

Luis Díaz nearly added to that lead in the fifty-seventh minute, receiving a pass from Lennart Karl on the left side of the Hoffenheim penalty area; the 28-year-old Colombian international attempted to pick out the top-right corner, but his right-footed shot would ultimately curl over the bar and out.

The match started to settle from the hour mark until the seventieth minute. There were no significant chances generated between the sixtieth and seventy-fifth minutes; now that Bayern were 2-0 in front and did not want to make the same mistakes they did in the first half, the strategy turned to short, calculated passing to take time off the clock.

Despite a decent performance in which he made six clearances, finished 6/8 on long balls, and 2/2 on ground duels, with two blocked shots and two tackles, Kim Min-jae looked worn out by the time that the seventieth minute arrived - he had to be substituted off, with Dayot Upamecano entering in his place at LCB.

Bayern continued to put Hoffenheim under pressure from the seventieth minute onward, ultimately leading to a penalty drawn by Michael Olise in the seventy-fourth minute after Bernardo brought the French international down. As usual, Kane stepped up to take it, and sent Baumann the other way this time before lifting the penalty into the top-right corner, thus completing the hat-trick.

It was Kane's second hat-trick of the season and his ninth in the Bundesliga over the last year and a half - his first of this season came in just 13 minutes against RB Leipzig in the first matchweek.

Hoffenheim quickly responded, managing to get on the scoreboard in the final ten minutes of the match. Vladimír Coufal, from the left side of the Bayern third, would curl a right-footed free kick off Joshua Kimmich, past Neuer and into the bottom-right corner.

Hoffenheim could not launch a decent shot on target in the remaining time they had. Bayern had one more, though, and they would take advantage of it; Serge Gnabry, on the right side of the Hoffenheim penalty area, collected the rebound of a Harry Kane shot and tapped the ball past a desperate Baumann into the bottom-left corner.

Immediately after, Robert Hartmann would draw the match to a close. Bayern, 4-1 victors, remain the only team to have picked up every point from the matches they have played this season, with twelve from twelve.

Vincent Kompany's side will look to continue their winning streak at the Allianz Arena on Friday, hosting SV Werder Bremen (1-1-2, 13th) at 20:30 CET. As for Hoffenheim, who drop to eighth prior to today's primetime match, they will visit SC Freiburg (2-0-2, 6th) next Sunday, with kickoff set for 15:30 CET.