Kane fires four in 9-goal rout of Zagreb

MUNICH — Harry Kane broke Wayne Rooney's record for the most Champions League goals by an English player, finding the net four times in Bayern Munich's rout of Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.

It was one of several records broken in what proved to be an emphatic start to European competition for new coach Vincent Kompany, as Bayern thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in one of the highest-scoring games in Champions League history.

"Amazing game, a bit of a crazy game for sure," Kane told broadcaster DAZN. "To score all those goals in the end was a great night."

Kane took his tally to 33 in the competition by scoring in the 19th, 53rd, 73rd and 78th minutes — three of the goals were penalties — to surpass Rooney's record of 30.

"I practice my penalties, I have a good routine, but to be honest, I didn't really know what to do for the third one, but thankfully I was able to put it away," Kane said.

"It's the first time I've scored three (penalties) in a game. That doesn't happen at all really."

Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot to give Bayern the lead over the Croatian club after his teammate Aleksandar Pavlovic was fouled by Ronael Pierre-Gabriel.

That drew Kane level with Rooney's record of 30, and he scored his 31st on a rebound after goalkeeper Ivan Nevistic parried Joshua Kimmich's shot in the 57th.

Kane scored two more from the penalty spot to extend his record.

Dinamo Zagreb enjoyed a small rally just after the turnaround, with Croatia center forward Bruno Petkovic scoring in the 48th minute, quickly followed by another from Takuya Ogiwara two minutes later.

Kane said Bayern "got away with" its second-half lapse but "against the top opposition we can get punished for that, so we need to sort that out".

Bayern boss Kompany toasted a record-breaking win on his debut as a Champions League coach.

"I'm just happy for the lads. They scored the goals, I didn't score any," a smiling Kompany told DAZN.

The former Manchester City captain praised his side's mentality, saying: "We conceded two goals, but we stayed calm. It's not ideal — I know already what happened and how we need to work on it.

"We need to have more control, but that will come."

The six-time Champions League winner has won every one of its past 20 opening matches in the competition dating back to 2002-03.

The score is one goal better than Bayern's record 8-2 win over Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the competition in 2020.

The big win brought more than bragging rights for the German giant, with goal difference likely to be even more important under the new Champions League single league format.

Four other Bayern players scored in the emphatic win, including two goals for new signing Michael Olise on his Champions League debut after signing from Crystal Palace.

Leon Goretzka's header in stoppage time made Bayern the first team to score nine goals in the Champions League era. Some teams, including Bayern, achieved that feat in the old European Cup. It was the tournament's highest-scoring game in terms of total goals since Borussia Dortmund beat Legia Warsaw 8-4 in 2016, according to UEFA.

The 31-year-old Kane has scored 12 Champions League goals since moving to Bayern a year ago, and scored 21 before that for his former club Tottenham Hotspur.

Kane now has 53 goals in 50 games in all competitions since moving to Bayern.

He has scored nine goals in his last three games for club and country, including two for England against Finland in his 100th international game and a hat-trick on Saturday for Bayern against Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga.

Kane and Kylian Mbappe were joint top scorers in last season's Champions League with eight goals apiece.

Another record was broken when Thomas Muller came off the bench to play his 152nd Champions League game for Bayern. It's the most for a player for one club, breaking a tie with former Barcelona player Xavi Hernandez. Muller has made the joint fourth-most appearances in the competition of any player.

Agencies