In the 1,000th home match for Bayern in the Bundesliga, their victory propelled them ahead of Bayer Leverkusen by eight points with 11 rounds remaining.
Harry Kane came to the rescue once again. The English forward, on loan to Bayern Munich, scored two goals to help Bayern secure a 2-1 victory over Leipzig in the Bundesliga football tournament, breaking their streak of three consecutive losses in all competitions.
Kane scored in the first minute of stoppage time to earn three points for Bavarian Powerhouse, bringing their tally to 27 in 23 Bundesliga matches.
Bayern’s win in their 1,000th home match in the Bundesliga pushed them eight points clear of Bayer Leverkusen, with 11 rounds left. Bayern had suffered defeats in Leverkusen 3-0, then in Lazio 1-0 in the Champions League before securing a 3-2 victory in the Bundesliga against Bochum at the end of last week.
The club was motivated to announce that coach Thomas Tuchel would leave at the end of the season.
“We are all in the same boat,” said Bayern forward Thomas Muller. “Certainly, it hasn’t been an easy week with three losses as Bayern players, so we are very happy today.”
Tuchel needed some time to celebrate after Kane’s winning goal, and it was only after that Muller signaled.
“I’m happy for the players, for the effort, for the performance,” Tuchel said. “It’s good that Harry scored, which was very important for him and for us. Leverkusen has won many matches, many late ones. Now it’s our turn.”
There was a minute’s silence before the match for 1990 World Cup winner Andreas Brehme, who died during the week. Bayern players also wore black armbands for the game.
Bayern created more opportunities, but Leipzig reserve goalkeeper Janis Blaswich made a spectacular save to deny Kane early on.
England coach Gareth Southgate was there to watch Kane and defender Eric Dier. But Southgate might also have heard the grumbles of some disappointed Bayern fans at halftime.
Tuchel was given a metal box to sit on during the first half, and he went looking for it during the second half break to sit on it again.
Amadou Haidara forced a save from Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after the break, before Mohamed Simakan took Leipzig close as spectators showed greater ambition.
But then Kane stopped another disappointment for Bayern.
Neuer said, “We showed better play and therefore deserved to win.”
VAR denied Darmstadt two late goals and accepted one self-goal as it was held 1-1 in Werder Bremen. Tim Skarke thought he had won the game for Darmstadt with a goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time, but the goal was disallowed because the ball had struck the arm of Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer.
Skarke had another offside goal in the 78th minute, and Christopher Zimman’s goal in the 81st minute gave Bremen a share of the points.
Stuttgart held Cologne to a 1-1 draw after visiting, still six points ahead of Borussia Dortmund, who played Hoffenheim on Sunday.
Union Berlin and promoted Heidenheim also drew 2-2, each earning a point in their fight against relegation.