Dream Debut For Harry Kane As Bayern Munich Smash Werder 4-0

It was a dream Bundesliga debut for Harry Kane. The 30-year-old England captain scored Bayern Munich’s second goal (74’) in a 4-0 victory over Werder Bremen on Friday. Leroy Sané (4’ & 90’) and Mathys Tel (94’) were the other two scorers. The result also comes less than a week after Bayern was smashed 3-0 by RB Leipzig in the DFL Supercup.

“It was fantastic,” Kane said after the game to Sky Sports. “There as a lot of talk to the buildup to the game, and I couldn’t wait to get out there and get started. It started well with the goal early on, but it was a tough game; we created good chances, but we lacked the final product.”

According to Opta, Kane becomes just the second English player after former Hoffenheim forward Reiss Nelson to score on his Bundesliga debut. But Kane not only scored Bayern’s second goal but also assisted Sané for the opener.

Kane got off to a perfect start, and Bayern scoring four goals is good news for the fans of Germany’s record champions. But there are also some negative takeaways. While Bayern did score the opener, the goal was a gift by a Bremen side that played with a high defensive line and lacked significant pace.

That lack of pace also cost Bremen the opportunity to make life more uncomfortable for the first 20 minutes of the second half. In complete control over the first 45 minutes, the game seemed to slip away for Bayern, with Bremen coming out of the dressing room determined to make things interesting.

Like it was the case last week against third-division side Viktoria Köln, Bremen struggled with pace and then, after 75 minutes, ran out of gas. As a result, Bayern was able to rack up the score and walk away with what will look on paper like an easy 4-0 victory.

The story of Bayern’s win, however, is more complicated. Because the same flaws that were apparent in Bayern’s 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig were still very much apparent, even with Kane, Bayern struggled to put away chances, and in defense, there is a sense that a team with pace could overrun this side in a similar fashion than the Red Bulls did last Saturday.

“They came out strong in the second half, and that caused us problems for the first five to ten minutes,” Kane said to Sky. “But overall, we stayed calm and got the second goal there, and then the boys finished it off of the bench.”

Indeed, Kane’s second goal seemingly put the game to bed. A great run by Alphonso Davies opened up Werder; his pass found Kane just outside the box between two defenders, and with plenty of space, the Englishman was able to slot it home from just inside the box. Sané and then Tel added two more to complete the scoreline.

The positives of the game then were the fact that, unlike last week, Bayern kept a clean sheet and that their star signing, Harry Kane, got off to a perfect start. As for the flaws in the attack, the chemistry between Kane and his teammates will surely improve. As for the defense, Tuchel must show that he can finally find a solution for Bayern’s tendency to switch off for periods at a time. Bremen failed to capitalize on Friday where a stronger team would have surely scored.

Either way, the positives remain, especially for Kane, who seemed star-struck about his first-ever game in the Bundesliga. “The fans from both sides were incredible the whole game, really different to some of the Premier League atmospheres I’ve experienced,” Kane said with a big smile on his face to Sky Sports.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth and on Threads: @manuveth