Bayern Munich 3-1 Augsburg: Player ratings as Harry Kane scores brace on home Bundesliga debut
- Bayern cruise to win in first home game of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season
- Kane bags first half penalty before deftly chipping home second goal
- Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman also impress in dominant performance
Harry Kane scored two goals on his home debut as Bayern Munich beat Augsburg 3-1 to go top of the Bundesliga.
The Bavarian giants were a little slow out of the traps, without ever really being troubled by the visitors, and needed a stroke of luck just after the half-hour mark to take the lead.
Felix Uduokhai could not react in time as Leroy Sane's shot ricocheted off goalkeeper Finn Dahmen onto his knee, with goal-line technology confirming the ball had crossed the line before he could get back to hook it away.
Harry Kane had just 12 touches in the first half but one of those was to double Bayern's lead from the penalty spot, before he scored a superb second as the champions showed their class. Thomas Tuchel's side took their foot of the gas late on, allowing Dion Beljo to score a late consolation.
How the game unfolded
Minus the absence of Manuel Neuer in goal, this was the strongest possible lineup available to Thomas Tuchel.
Bayern were quickly into their passing groove, with Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane interchanging positions, and they created a number of openings without testing Finn Dahmen in the Augsburg goal. If anything, they were a little too comfortable at times, with the visitors not afraid to pass their way out of trouble against a slightly lackadaisical press.
Ermedin Demirovic could have put Augsburg ahead just before the half-hour mark, but he scuffed his shot wide off Sven Ulreich's right-hand post when it was perhaps easier to test the veteran German.
Minutes later, Bayern made him pay as a crisp pass from Gnabry set Sane away inside the right channel. His powerful shot was well saved by Dahmen, but the unfortunate Uduokhai could not get out of the way and hit him before trundling over the line.
Referee Daniel Siebert awarded Bayern a penalty ten minutes later when Joshua Kimmich's shot from outside the box was handled, and Kane stepped up to stroke home from 12 yards to score his first goal in front of the Munich faithful.
Bayern stepped things up in the second half, with Coman, Alphonso Davies and Noussair Mazraoui lookingly spritely, and the former of the two combined wonderfully to set Kane up for a second. England's captain timed his run to perfection, dinking the ball over Dahmen first time to put the game beyond Augsburg.
Tuchel made a host of subs as Bayern saw out the game - Kane thumping the ground in frustration as he missed a header from point-blank range to complete his hat-trick.
Bayern Munich player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Sven Ulreich - 6/10 - Only had one save before picking the ball out of his net late on/
RB: Noussair Mazraoui - 7/10 - Burst forward at pace with regularity, demonstrating some nifty close control.
CB: Dayot Upamecano - 6/10 - Has frightening recovery pace, which often gets the Frenchman out of trouble when he goes wandering.
CB: Kim min-jae - 6/10 - Will know his biggest challenges in a Bayern shirt are to come in the Champions League.
CB: Alphonso Davies - 8/10 - Has so much quality on the ball that you feel Davies is a bit wasted at left-back. Still, he's so far up the pitch at times that he's basically a winger.
CM: Joshua Kimmich - 6/10 - Ticked things over in the middle of the park with his usual quite, unassuming effectiveness.
CM: Leon Goretzka - 7/10 - Six ball recoveries and four ground duels won for a midfielder who operates at the very highest level.
AM: Leroy Sane - 8/10 - Looks to be really enjoying playing under Thomas Tuchel, embracing his role through the middle and off the right.
RF: Serge Gnabry - 7/10 - Showed glimpses of his ability, linking up nicely with Sane and Mazraoui in particular.
LF: Kingsley Coman - 7/10 - Has fantastic close control and complements that technical excellence with a wonderful football brain.
CF: Harry Kane - 9/10 - Not overly involved in the opening exchanges but showed exactly why Bayern paid at least £85m for his services. A natural goalscorer, Kane dispatched his penalty coolly and his tremendous movement and execution was in play for his second.
Substitutes
SUB: Konrad Laimer (71' for Mazraoui) - 6/10
SUB: Thomas Muller (71' for Gnabry) - 6/10
SUB: Mathys Tel (71' for Sane) - 6/10
SUB: Matthijs de Ligt (80' for Kim) - N/A
SUB: Ryan Gravenberch (80' for Coman) - N/A
Subs not used: Tom Hulsmann (GK), Aleksandar Pavlovic, Frans Kratzig, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
Manager
Thomas Tuchel - 8/10 - Much sterner tests await Tuchel's Bayern but they had control of this game from the first minute. The flexiblilty of the team's shape appears to be getting the best out of Sane, with Kane now a quality focal point up front.