MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) -Striker Harry Kane scored twice as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich eased past visitors Union Berlin 3-0 on Saturday to provisionally open up a three-point gap at the top.
The Bavarians won their third straight league game without conceding a goal in a near-flawless dress rehearsal ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League game in Munich against Benfica.
While Vincent Kompany’s team are undefeated in the league, they have lost two of their three Champions League matches so far and are desperate for a win over Benfica to boost their chances of advancing to the next round of the competition.
Bayern opened their account with a 15th-minute penalty by England captain Kane before Kingsley Coman curled a shot past keeper Frederik Ronnow to make it 2-0 two minutes before the break.
Union had no effort on goal in the entire first half and were constantly on the back foot, struggling with Bayern’s pace and intensity, with the hosts having close to 80% possession at times.
Union, who dropped to sixth on 15 points, could do nothing to stop Kane from stabbing in his second goal of the afternoon from close range six minutes after the restart.
Kane, who also scored a hat-trick against VfB Stuttgart two weeks ago in the Bundesliga, came close to another one late in the game with a low drive.
He now has 11 league goals this season to top the scorers’ list.
“It’s fantastic. Every game we dominate, not only with the ball but also without the ball with our pressing,” Kane told reporters.
“We managed to keep another clean sheet today which is great. Everyone is hungry. There’s still a long way to go, but if we keep going like this we’ll be okay.”
“It was a really good performance from us. It wasn’t easy but it was a home game and people expect us to win here.”
Eager to reclaim domestic dominance after last season’s double by Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern have now scored 32 goals and conceded seven in nine league games.
They are top on 23 points, three ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig, who take on Borussia Dortmund later on Saturday.
Eintracht Frankfurt moved up to third place on 17 following their 7-2 demolition of VfL Bochum.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Clare Fallon and Pritha Sarkar)
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