Harry Kane took his season’s goals tally to 45 with another double as Bayern Munich held on to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 at Allianz Arena and forge on at the top of the Bundesliga.
Kane headed home from close range soon after Aleksandar Pavlovic had given Bayern a first-half lead and crashed home his ninth goal in six matches from outside the penalty area in the second period.
Jonathan Burkardt pulled one back for Frankfurt from the penalty spot and Arnaud Kalimuendo grabbed a second for the visitors in the closing stages to ensure a nervous finish.
Bayern had put last month’s first Bundesliga defeat of the season against Augsburg behind them with three straight wins in all competitions and they quickly took control against Frankfurt.
Pavlovic fired them into a 16th-minute lead with their first shot on target, drilling a low finish beyond Eintracht goalkeeper Kauã Santos from outside the box following a corner.
Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images
Kane had been presented with a commemorative poster marking his 500th goal for club and country before kick off after his two penalties in last week’s 3-0 win at Werder Bremen.
The England captain celebrated his 501st in the 20th minute, heading home from close range to double his side’s lead after Josip Stanisic had nodded on a corner.
Frankfurt halted a 10-game winless run last week with victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, but they did not muster an effort on target in the first period.
The visitors did threaten soon after the restart however, with Mahmoud Dahoud heading narrowly wide before the chances started mounting up again for Bayern.
Michael Olise, Luis Díaz and Kane — the latter twice in quick succession — were all thwarted by Santos and at the other end Frankfurt struck the woodwork.
Top scorer Burkardt — making his first appearance for Eintracht since November off the bench — saw his close-range effort hit a post.
Kane wrapped up the points for Bayern with his second goal in the 68th minute, firing home low into the bottom corner from outside the area after being teed up by Joshua Kimmich.
Kane then slipped up in his own penalty area, with VAR deeming he had fouled Oscar Hojlund and Burkardt planted the resulting spot kick into the bottom corner.
The visitors then ensured an anxious finale as Kalimuendo lashed home their second from inside the area with four minutes remaining, but Bayern held on for all three points.
