Leroy Sané scored twice in the second half as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich were made to work hard for a 3-2 win over visitors St Pauli on Saturday to restore their six-point gap at the top going into the last seven matchdays.
Bayern, who face Inter in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on 8 April, took a 17th-minute lead when Harry Kane tapped in from Michael Olise’s cross. Kane, who leads the Bundesliga top scorers’ list with 22 goals, has now scored against all 19 clubs he has faced in the Bundesliga, the second best all-time record behind the retired Miroslav Klose.
The visitors, who had hit the crossbar earlier, levelled 10 minutes later from Elias Saad’s clever flick and gave Bayern a run for their money before Sané took control.
The hosts, looking for their first win in three Bundesliga matches, struck in the 53rd minute from yet another superb Olise cross for Sané to drill in.
Jamal Musiala saw his 69th-minute effort tipped on to the crossbar but Sané did it better two minutes later, finishing off a quick move after a Kane cutback. St Pauli’s Lars Ritzka unleashed an unstoppable shot in stoppage time to cut the deficit but it was too little too late.
Bayern are on 65 points, with second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, winners 3-1 over VfL Bochum on Friday, on 59. St Pauli are in 15th place on 25.
after newsletter promotion