Harry Kane failed to find the net at Mainz on Saturday — but he still made Bundesliga history, setting up both Bayern Munich goals in a 2-1 win that kept the champions top of the table.
Kane's first assist came inside the opening 15 minutes at the Mewa Arena. The England captain pounced on a wayward pass from Lee Jae-sung, drove forward and squared the ball for Joshua Kimmich, who thundered an effort from the edge of the area into the top corner. It was the perfect start for a Bayern side that had won 2-0 at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in midweek.
The second assist arrived shortly after half-time. Kane again turned provider, this time laying the ball on for teenager Lennart Karl to sweep home and double Bayern's advantage. Mainz halved the deficit in added time through a deft header from Phillip Tietz, but it was too little too late for Urs Fischer's side.
Kane had his own chance to get on the scoresheet, but his dinked effort was smothered by Robin Zentner in the Mainz goal. In the end it did not matter — the striker had already decided the game without scoring, as TNT Sports reported.
A record 22 years in the making
The two assists took Kane's tally for the season to eight — the most through the first nine games of a Bundesliga season since Opta began tracking assists in 2004/05. It is a remarkable number for a player still best known as one of the deadliest finishers in world football, and it underlines how complete his game has become in Munich.
It has been quite a week for Kane, who signed a new Bayern deal until 2029 earlier this week. The new contract, which makes him one of the highest-paid players in Europe, was reward for a start to the season in which he has carried Bayern's attack almost single-handedly at times — and Saturday showed he can do it with passes as well as goals.
Bayern and Dortmund locked together
The victory kept Bayern atop the Bundesliga table, level on points with Borussia Dortmund — who beat Elversberg 2-1 on Saturday — but ahead on goal difference. The two sides, who drew 2-2 in Munich last Saturday, are locked on 21 points after nine rounds, with the defending champions in front on goal difference, as TheNigerian reported.
Dortmund needed a second-half brace from Felix Nmecha to see off Elversberg, with Noel Futkeu's late goal giving the hosts a scare in the closing stages. RB Leipzig, meanwhile, sit three points behind the top two after their 5-2 win over Augsburg — a result covered in our report on Leipzig's rout of Augsburg.
Saturday's result also continues Bayern's unbeaten start to the season in all competitions, and means they are now unbeaten in 31 straight away Bundesliga matches — the third-longest streak in the league's history, as reported by the club's website.
So what: the title race is a two-horse sprint
Bayern and Dortmund are already pulling clear, and the gap to the rest is starting to look like a gap in class as well as points. Bayern keep winning despite a mounting absentee list, and they are doing it with Kane finding new ways to hurt opponents — if defences focus on stopping him from shooting, he will simply set up the goals instead.
The international break now gives both clubs a pause, but the message from Saturday is clear: this title race will be decided by which of the two can keep their nerve when the other refuses to blink. Bayern's away record suggests they will not be giving anything away cheaply.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Kane not scoring and still deciding a game is the story of this Bayern season in miniature — he is no longer just the finisher, he is the creator too, and that makes Bayern twice as hard to stop. Eight assists in nine games is a playmaker's return from a number nine, and if he keeps this up, the Bundesliga's assist record will not be the last one he rewrites. Is Kane now the Bundesliga's best creator as well as its best finisher? Let us know in the comments.
