England star, Harry Kane, scored hat-trick as Bayern Munich thrashed promoted side Darmstadt 8-0 on Manuel Neuer’s return to Bundesliga action on Saturday.
Kane lobbed goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen from the centre circle to score Bayern’s fifth and his second as Bayern tore Darmstadt apart on a rollercoaster afternoon for the champions.
In a game which saw three red cards before half-time for the first time in Bundesliga history, Joshua Kimmich was the first to go for an early bath.
The Bayern midfielder was sent off for bringing down Marvin Mehlem in front of goal after he lost the ball too easily in front of goal.
“It was a stupid red card and I’m very annoyed,” said Kimmich, who will now miss Bayern’s clash with Borussia Dortmund next weekend.
Darmstadt’s hopes of a famous win were dashed just 17 minutes later, when Klaus Gjasula was given a somewhat harsh red card for tripping Bayern’s Konrad Laimer on the edge of the area.
Darmstadt then went down to nine men just before half-time after Matej Maglica was sent off for an almost identical challenge on Kane.
Leroy Sane had a goal ruled out for offside shortly before the break, but Bayern burst out of the blocks in the second half with seven goals in 25 minutes.
Kane finally broke the deadlock with a low header form close range, before Sane doubled the lead with a tap-in moments later.
READ ALSO: Kane nets first Bundesliga hat-trick as Bayern whip Bochum 7-0
Jamal Musiala and Sane then put the game beyond Darmstadt’s reach with two elegant long-range finishes in quick succession.
Kane delivered the cherry on the cake with his long-range screamer, before Thomas Mueller and Musiala added a sixth and a seventh.
The England captain scored his third just two minutes from time, completing his second hat-trick in nine Bundesliga games this season.
I’m going home a very happy man today,” said veteran keeper Neuer, who made his first appearance after almost a year out with a broken leg.
Meanwhile, high-fliers Stuttgart suffered their first home defeat of the season in a thrilling 3-2 derby loss to south-western neighbours Hoffenheim.
Hoffenheim hit Stuttgart on the counter-attack early on, Grischa Proemel smashing the ball in on the rebound after a sharp save from goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel.
They doubled the lead shortly afterwards, Wout Weghorst converting a penalty after Maximilian Beier was fouled in the box.
Stuttgart’s day got even worse when Deniz Undav missed a penalty at the other end, but the mood changed when Chris Fuehrich grabbed a goal back for the hosts on the hour mark.
Union Berlin, on the other hand, extended their miserable losing run to 10 games with a 2-0 defeat away at Werder Bremen.
Union’s Robin Knoche headed the ball into his own net at a Bremen free-kick shortly before half-time, before midfielder Rani Khedira was sent off for a dangerous challenge in the second half.
Marvin Ducksch added another with a dainty lob to plunge Union further into crisis.
Elsewhere, Augsburg came from behind to beat Wolfsburg 3-2 while Borussia Moenchengladbach battled to a 2-1 win over Heidenheim.
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