Kane overtakes Rooney and records fall in Bayern Munich defeat

MUNICH – Harry Kane scored four times on Tuesday to take his total number of goals in the Champions League to 33, surpassing the previous record of 30 set by Wayne Rooney for the most goals by an English player in the competition.

It was a record-breaking evening for the striker and FC Bayern Munich, who confidently swept Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in the first round of the new Champions League format.

Bayern's nine goals were also the most ever scored by a single team in a Champions League match, and Kane set another European record: three of his goals came from penalties.

“An incredible game, definitely a bit crazy,” Kane told broadcaster DAZN. “To score all those goals at the end was a great night.”

“To be honest, after the second (penalty), I didn't really know what to do with the third, but luckily I was able to score.”

Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot to put Bayern ahead and equalled Rooney's record for an Englishman. He scored his 31st goal from a rebound to overtake Rooney and scored two more from the penalty spot, making him 12th Champions League goalscorer since joining Bayern a year ago.

“He is motivated and it is easier for me as a coach because when you have a top player who is so motivated himself, it makes everything much easier,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany after the game. “He is a leader, captain of the national team. Players like him know that they have to stand up in moments like this and that is what he does.”

Raphael Guerreiro, Michael Olise, Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka scored a number of goals for Bayern, setting a record of nine goals in a single Champions League match. Bruno Petkovic and Takuya Ogiwara each scored to put the visitors on the scoresheet.

Kane has now scored 53 goals in 50 games in all competitions since joining Bayern, and has scored nine goals in his last three games for club and country, including two for England against Finland in his 100th international appearance and a hat-trick on Saturday for Bayern against Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga.

Another record was broken when Thomas Müller came off the bench to play his 152nd Champions League game for Bayern, the most for a player from a single club, equalling former Barcelona player Xavi Hernandez.

Despite the narrow victory, Kompany was not the only one to praise. His team led 3-0 at half-time, but shortly after the break the Croatians conceded two goals in two minutes as they tried to get back on their feet.

“We scored nine goals but conceded two. We conceded the goals because we were a step too late. Despite that, we stayed calm and had a good evening,” said the Belgian.

This story uses information from The Associated Press.