Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club.
Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time.
Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.”
Photo: AP
“It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice in between, for moments like this — to enjoy it with the team, enjoy it with the fans. I’m loving every minute,” the England captain said.
“It was a weight on the shoulders, so it was nice to have that lifted — and now we can enjoy it,” he told Sky Germany.
Kane opened the scoring 31 minutes in, heading in a curling Michael Olise shot for his 25th goal of the league campaign.
With Bayern lacking their usual energy, Gladbach had several chances to equalize, but were let down by poor finishing. Olise tapped in from close range to score a goal of his own in the final minute, sealing the occasion.
In his 750th game in all competitions for the club, Mueller, who is to leave Bayern after 25 years in the summer, went close to scoring, but had his shot saved in the 57th minute.
The 35-year-old was subbed off with seven minutes remaining, hugging his teammates as reserves and members of staff rushed to form a guard of honor.
Mueller won a record 13 Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Champions Leagues at Bayern. Speaking with Sky Germany, Mueller said: “I can’t really work it through in my mind at the moment,” adding that he was touched by “75,000 hearts which were beating just a little bit for me.”
Kane said he was “proud” to play with Mueller, calling the veteran “a legend in football and a legend at this club.”
Kane’s long-time England and Tottenham teammate Eric Dier, who is to join Monaco in the summer, was also given a send-off before the match.
The title win was also Dier’s first of his career.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought