Harry Kane Brace Helps Bayern Munich Beat Flamengo At Club World Cup

Harry Kane has led Bayern Munich to the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup. The English striker recorded a brace against Brazilian side Flamengo on Sunday, playing a crucial part in his side’s 4-2 victory.

“It was really tough,” Kane said to DAZN after the game. “They are a good side. We played well. But every time we thought we got away, they came back. The fourth goal was very important. That gave us some room to breathe.”

Naturally, it was Kane who scored that crucial goal. Kane made it 2-0 (9’) and, in a period in which Bayern struggled to keep a 3-2 lead, scored a clinical goal to make it 4-2 (73’) to secure the win at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. An own goal by Erick Pulgar (6’) and a stunning long-range effort by Leon Goretzka (41’) produced the other two goals for Bayern.

It was a hard-fought victory for Bayern. The Rekordmeister quickly stormed to 2-0 lead but twice were threatened with losing the plot a bit. Gerson (33’) made it 2-1 right after the first half water break, and a Jorginho penalty (55’) led to almost 20 minutes in which Bayern had to hang on to the win.

“The main thing is that we played well in the first 20 minutes,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said after the game. “The intensity was ferocious. I was wondering if it would carry on in this heat. But we did well and got the win.”

Ultimately, it was Kane’s second big moment of the game that secured the win. Indeed, this was the sort of game Bayern Munich paid more than $100 million to secure the services of the England captain in the summer of 2023.

While Kane scored 36 goals in 32 Bundesliga games in his first season with Bayern, that productivity dropped to 26 goals in 31 league games in his second season. To make matters worse, nine penalty goals heavily bolstered that goal tally.

Today, Kane needed no penalties. Both goals, in fact, were brilliant. For his first, Kane scored with a fantastic strike from just outside his box. The second was a typical no.9 goal from inside the box. Both goals were clinical. Kane would end the game with an xG of just 0.31.

Kane’s performance was symbolic of Bayern’s game against Flamengo. The Rekordmeister overall was clinical against Flamengo, finishing the game with an xG of just 0.91. The Brazilians had an xG of 1.37. Considering that Flamengo had a penalty, Bayern maintained a tight defense.

Indeed, this was the first time in the tournament that the Rekordmeister didn’t dominate the stats. Flamengo had 51% possession and completed 402 passes versus Bayern’s 386. As was the case against BocaBayern also met Flamengo’s physical style, committing 19 fouls to the Brazilian team’s 18.

In many ways, the game might offer a blueprint for the quarterfinal clash against Paris Saint-Germain. The UEFA Champions League winners dominated Inter Miami CF earlier today, securing their passage to the quarterfinals.

The French giants have had a tournament of ups and downs. PSG beat Atlético Madrid 4-0 on matchday 1, then fell 1-0 to Botafogo on matchday 2 before securing its passage to the knockout stages with a 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders.

Botafogo and the Sounders, even though they lost the game, showed how you can beat PSG. Both teams were compact in defense and disciplined in midfield. Make no mistake, Kompany will have watched those two games closely as he now tries to beat Luis Enrique’s side.

“We see what it will need to be for that game,” Kompany said. “We need to rest now and use every day to regain our energy. But what else do you want? Two top sides to face one another.”

Without a doubt, it will take a world-class performance by Bayern to advance. The sort of world-class performance Kane showed today. “It will be a tough game,” Kane said. “We played them earlier in the year and came out on top. We have to show our game and energy, and we have shown that we can beat everyone throughout the tournament.”