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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Jonathan Liew

Harry Kane is not cursed, he is a winning footballer having a brilliant season

Harry Kane holds up the match ball after his hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund
Harry Kane has now scored 27 goals in his debut Bundesliga season, even if Bayern Munich are only second. Photograph: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Bundesliga/Bundesliga Collection/Getty Images

There was another Harry Kane moment at the weekend: those moments when the air feels thin and the pulse races just a little faster and the margins have sharpened to a fine point. Kane has spent most of the last decade of his career being the most watched, the most scrutinised and the most outnumbered player on the pitch. The percentages in this job are staggeringly low. Still he checks and feints and shuffles and drifts, looking and longing for that elusive yard of space.

It finally arrives in the 91st minute against RB Leipzig, the game level at 1-1, Bayern Munich’s title challenge crumbling right here on the Allianz turf. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting brings down a long ball and flicks it over the head of the defender. The touch is heavy. Choupo-Moting was trying to keep the ball for himself. But now it sits up unexpectedly for Kane, and all that is required now is a left-footed volley from 14 yards, on the turn and through two blocking defenders.

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