BERLIN (AP) — Harry Kane scored twice but conceded a penalty as Bayern Munich held on to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 to extend its Bundesliga lead on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund failed to keep pace as it was held 2-2 at Leipzig in the late game. Fábio Silva scored in stoppage time for Dortmund to salvage a point before it faces Bayern at home in “der Klassiker” next Saturday.
But Bayern’s win means Dortmund has fallen eight points behind the defending champion and that it will take an unlikely collapse from Vincent Kompany’s team in the final 11 rounds to stop the Bavarian powerhouse from celebrating again. Bayern has won 12 of the last 13 titles since Dortmund won back-to-back titles in 2012.
Bayern relief
Aleksandar Pavlović scored early against Frankfurt and Bayern seemed to be cruising when Kane scored his league-leading 27th and 28th goals of the season, one in each half.
The England star is used to converting penalties but ended up conceding one for a foul on Oscar Höjlund with some 15 minutes of normal time remaining.
Jonathan Burkardt duly pulled one back from the spot in the 77th, and Arnaud Kalimuendo capitalized on a mix-up between Joshua Kimmich and Kim Min-jae to set up a nervy finale in the 86th.
“The two mistakes towards the end made the game a bit more nerve-racking than what it needed to be,” said Kane, who was honored before kickoff for scoring 500 career goals for club and country. “Ultimately we’re playing against a really good team. Three points was the most important thing today.”
Bayern now has a week off, while Dortmund visits Bergamo, Italy for the second leg of its Champions League playoff against Atalanta on Wednesday. Dortmund has a 2-0 lead from the first leg.
“We can enjoy the (Bundesliga) lead up until the game next week,” Kane said. “So yeah, we can be happy for sure.”
Alphonso Davies went off injured early in the second half, and Jamal Musiala made his first league start for Bayern of the season.
Union celebrates first win of 2026
Rani Khedira’s first-half lob was enough for Union Berlin to surprise Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 and end the visitors’ seven-game unbeaten run across all competitions. It was Union’s first victory since back-to-back wins over Cologne and Leipzig in December.
Also, Augsburg grabbed a 3-2 win in Wolfsburg, and Cologne held high-flying Hoffenheim to a 2-2 draw. Ragnar Ache scored a contender for goal of the season for Cologne with a spectacular bicycle kick.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Ciarán Fahey, The Associated Press
