England star Harry Kane shared his pride after scoring twice for Bayern Munich on Saturday to take his career tally to 500 for club and country.
Kane’s brace, which included his 100th successful penalty, helped Bayern maintain their six-point Bundesliga lead with a 3-0 win at relegation-threatened Werder Bremen.
Kane said he was only told of his achievement after the match.
“It was nice. Obviously a proud achievement to reach 500 goals. It’s a lot of hard work, a lot sacrifice, so nice to reach it. But as always, it’s about the next one,” Kane told broadcaster Dazn. “So the most important thing today is the win, the clean sheet.”
Kane’s first goal was as a 17-year-old playing for Leyton Orient against Sheffield Wednesday in England’s third tier in January 2011.
He scored Saturday’s goals in the first half. The penalty came in the 22nd minute after Lennart Karl was brought down. The second came four minutes later with a crisp shot in off the post from outside the penalty area for his 26th league goal of the season.
The 32-year-old striker now has 41 goals in 35 games for Bayern in all competitions this season and is the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to reach the 40-goal mark.
He has scored 126 goals for Bayern since his 2023 transfer from Tottenham, where he became their record scorer with 280 goals.
Kane also has a record 78 goals in 112 games for England.
Leon Goretzka, making a rare start in his final season at Bayern, scored the team’s third goal in the 70th.
“We scored at the perfect situation and killed the game off,” Kane said.
Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer went off at half time, reportedly as a precaution, with a minor calf problem. Jonas Urbig took his place for the second period.
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Bayern’s win means the team is highly unlikely to be overtaken by Borussia Dortmund when the two rivals meet in two weeks. Bayern’s goal difference is vastly superior.
Dortmund, who defeated Mainz 4-0 for their sixth consecutive league win on Friday, next visit RB Leipzig while Bayern host Eintracht Frankfurt in the 23rd round, a week before “der Klassiker” in Dortmund.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
