Harry Kane scored a penalty and Luis Diaz found the net as Bayern Munich beat RB Leipzig 2-0 to reach the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal.
The England international is beginning to fill a trophy cabinet that went untouched for too long and is now chasing down another piece of silverware.
Bayern’s big win in the cup
Leipzig thought they had scored the opener within the first five minutes, as Yan Diomande cut in from the right, jinked his way past three challenges, and found Christoph Baumgartner, who finished smoothly. A VAR check, though, revealed that Baumgartner was offside.
Before the 20-minute mark, Harry Kane had his first major opportunity to hit the back of the net, seeing his effort from 12 yards cleared off the line. Kane then saw a back-post header blocked by his own team-mate Aleksandar Pavlovic, albeit inadvertently, before Luis Diaz slammed an effort over the bar.
Baumgartner nearly opened Bayern up before half-time, as he found David Raum, but his powerful effort was well-saved by Manuel Neuer.
Before half-time, Marten Vandervoort made two exceptional saves to keep Leipzig level, but in the second half, just after the hour mark, his dangling leg brought down Josip Stanisic, and Kane stepped up to finally hit the back of the net from 12 yards.
And within three minutes, Bayern had their second, thanks to a vicious finish from Diaz after a brilliant pass from Michael Olise.
Now, the Bavarian giants have a semi-final to prepare for – the first time they have reached this stage in this competition since 2020.
The Most Valuable Player
Kane is relentless. When it comes to lessons being learned by young strikers, this is an absolutely classic example of how to pick yourself up from missed chances. The very best strikers simply think they will score the next one; he missed four big opportunities but when given the chance to score from the penalty spot, the net rippled. As we all knew it would.
The big loser
Vandervoort was playing so well, until he dangled a leg, and gave Bayern the very boost they needed to go on and win the game. After Kane scored, Bayern had their second within four minutes. The dominoes fell all at once. They will now be heading into the semi-finals, and the goalkeeper really has to hold himself accountable, sadly.
Match rating (out of five): ⭐⭐⭐
