MUNICH, October 28 (Reuters) – Bayern Munich thrashed Darmstadt 98 8-0 on Saturday, with a hat-trick from Harry Kane and all of the goals coming in the second half, to take the Bundesliga lead, while goalie Manuel Neuer’s injury recovery was overshadowed by a Bundesliga record three red cards.
The hosts were unstoppable after the interval against nine-man Darmstadt, scoring with Kane’s spectacular header in the 52nd minute.
Leroy Sane scored two, each side of a Jamal Musiala goal, to put the game out of reach, and Kane added another with a magnificent 60-metre looping strike from within the Bayern half.
Thomas Mueller scored another five minutes later, and Musiala completed his hat-trick with his 12th goal in nine league outings.
In a tumultuous first half, Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich and two Darmstadt players were sent straight red cards, the first time this has happened in a Bundesliga game.
“That was a crazy first half against a tough opponent,” remarked Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.
“Overall, the first half had too many mistakes and we lacked intensity. After the break the response was clear. We had one extra player, we played out a lot of chances, scored a lot of goals.”
“But it was an unusual game. No one expected it to end like this,” Tuchel added.
Bayern are on 23 points, one ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who play Freiburg on Sunday. VfB Stuttgart dropped to third place on 21 points following their 3-2 home loss to Hoffenheim.
RB Leipzig defeated Cologne 6-0 to go into fourth place with 20 points, level with Borussia Dortmund, who can overtake Bayern Munich if they defeat Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
All eyes were on Neuer, 37, who shattered his leg in a skiing accident in December 2022 after Germany’s early World Cup elimination, and he was greeted warmly by home supporters as he led his team out as captain.
The celebrations, however, were cut short in the fourth minute when Neuer gave the ball to midfielder Kimmich, who failed to handle the ball and was sent off for pulling down Marwin Mehlem on the outside of the box.
Even numbers were restored in the 21st minute when the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Klaus Gjasula was dismissed for a last-man foul on Konrad Laimer.
Neuer demonstrated that he was on the mend after stopping Mehlem’s shot during a swift Darmstadt burst before the visitors had another player sent off.
Matej Maglica was sent off in the 41st minute for collapsing Kane, who was running clear, breaking the league record of three sendings-off in the first half.
Bayern went on a scoring spree after the interval, scoring eight goals in 37 minutes.
Darmstadt were powerless, and Kane’s daring second goal was a strong contender for goal of the year.
