Harry Kane scored his 23rd Bundesliga goal for Bayern Munich in a 3-2 win over local rival Augsburg that was marred by Kingsley Coman’s knee injury on Saturday.
Bayern cut the gap to two points to leader Bayer Leverkusen, which was held by Borussia Moenchengladbach to 0-0.
Elsewhere, Stuttgart hammered Leipzig 5-2, and a spectator became a game official in Wolfsburg.
Kane needed a video review to be sure of scoring Bayern’s third goal. He was in an offside position when Jamal Musiala played the ball, but the replay showed it came off Augsburg’s Kristijan Jakić. It followed two Bundesliga games without scoring for Kane, his longest such break since signing for Bayern.
Earlier, 19-year-old midfielder Aleksandar Pavlović opened the scoring with his first goal in the Bundesliga following a corner. Alphonso Davies hit a low, curling drive to make it 2-0, for his first goal since scoring against Augsburg 10 months ago. Ermedin Demirović’s header briefly gave Augsburg hope of a comeback before Kane scored.
Bayern gave away two late penalties, one saved by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, the other converted by Demirović.
Bayern forward Coman injured his knee as Pavlovic scored the opening goal. Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said it appeared “fairly serious.” Tuchel was already contending with a raft of injuries and absences among key players.
New loan signing Eric Dier had his first Bayern start since joining from Tottenham alongside Matthijs de Ligt in the center of defense. Raphael Guerreiro, normally a left back, was on the right of defense, while Pavlovic made his fourth career Bundesliga start in midfield.
Bayern stayed second.
After Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso spent much of Friday dismissing the Liverpool job when Jürgen Klopp leaves, Saturday night brought frustration against local rival Gladbach.
Leverkusen racked up 27 shots to Gladbach’s four but was kept at bay by saves from goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas, including a notable first-half stop to turn Florian Wirtz’s shot wide.
Leverkusen had won its last two games with stoppage-time goals but on this occasion, Nathan Tella’s late effort went straight to the goalkeeper from close range.
Deniz Undav’s hat trick for Stuttgart gave his team the edge in the race to qualify for the Champions League. Leipzig has started 2024 with three straight losses in the Bundesliga.
Stuttgart stayed third and tightened its hold on a Champions League qualifying place. The team showed it can get goals even without top scorer Serhou Guirassy, who is with Guinea at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Benjamin Šeško and Loïs Openda scored for Leipzig but the young forwards couldn’t balance out poor defending, especially for Undav’s third goal, when Leipzig seemed unprepared for a quickly taken Stuttgart free kick.
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