MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) -Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane scored a hat-trick to steer his team to a 4-0 victory over visiting VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, snapping their three-game winless run across all competitions and keeping them top of the Bundesliga.
Kane, who had missed a golden chance in front of goal in the 51st minute, broke the deadlock six minutes later, rifling in from outside the box.
The England captain, who had not scored in his previous two Bundesliga games, the loss to Aston Villa in the Champions League or the recent two England matches earlier in October, then drilled in following a goal mouth scramble on the hour.
He secured his hat-trick in the 80th minute with his eighth league goal of the season after Joao Palhinha’s shot was blocked with substitute Kingsley Coman curling in Bayern’s fourth goal in the 89th.
Bayern, who had midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic taken off after eight minutes with a suspected broken collarbone, had control from the start but could not make their dominance count in the first half.
Stuttgart, last season’s runners-up, gradually ran out of steam and could no longer keep up after the break when Bayern struck three times in 23 minutes with Kane, now on eight goals in the league, to kill off the game.
The visitors’ best chance was in the 53rd minute when Josha Vagnoman missed the target, firing over the bar from 10 metres out.
The Bavarians are top of the standings on 17 points, ahead on goal difference of RB Leipzig, winners 2-0 at Mainz 05.
Freiburg are third on 15 with champions Bayer Leverkusen in fourth a point behind after their 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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