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Eric Dier teased Bayern Munich team-mate Harry Kane for “stealing” his goal, as he completed his hat-trick in the 8-1 thrashing of Mainz on Saturday.
Kane completed a perfect hat-trick against the Bundesliga relegation candidates, with Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala, Serge Gnabry and a Leon Goretza brace sealing an absolute rout on Saturday. For his third, Kane headed home from practically the goal line after Dier’s powerful header was tipped up into the air by goalkeeper Robin Zentner. A Mainz defender was tracking back meaning the ball may have been cleared before Kane’s touch, but that didn’t stop Dier ripping into his fellow countryman.
The former Tottenham defender told reporters: “Yes, I was very close. But Harry stole my goal [laughs]. I’m happy for him with all my heart that he was able to complete his hat-trick with it. Nevertheless, it would have been very nice to score myself. I really tried everything, but the goalkeeper saved my header. If you look at the result, definitely yes [it was his best game]. But I think we had some very good games before that too. It was definitely a nice game, and not just because of the result.”
While Dier’s comments were made in jest, Kane’s hat-trick showed his predatory instincts for all three goals, proving why he looks set to beat Robert Lewandowski’s Bundesliga single-season scoring record of 41 goals. The England captain is currently on 30 with nine games remaining.
With Lewandowski’s tally in his sights, Kane has already obliterated countless Bundesliga records in a scintillating first season in Bavaria. On Saturday alone, the Bayern forward became the first player to score at least two goals across eight matches in their debut season, before becoming the first to score four hat-tricks in their first term in Germany’s top flight.
Dier joined Bayern on loan in January after being deemed surplus to requirements at Tottenham under Ange Postecoglou. The German giants recently exercised the option to extend his stay by another year, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2025. He will look to form a formidable defensive partnership with Matthijs de Ligt in that time, and Dier said of that relationship: “It’s working really well with him. We get along very well, we enjoy playing together and, I think, we’re doing quite well. As soon as we played together for the first time, we immediately found a nice connection with each other and simply managed to keep it going.”
Coach Thomas Tuchel will hope such a statement victory, especially on the back of their crucial Champions League win in midweek, will push them on as they chase Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table. They are ten points out with nine games to go and face bottom club Darmstadt on Saturday.
