Bayern Munich's Harry Kane becomes fastest player to 50 ...

Harry Kane has become the fastest player to score fifty Bundesliga goals after his hat-trick for Bayern Munich on Friday night.

Kane scored all three goals in the match as Bayern beat Augsburg at home following the international break.

In doing so, the England captain surpassed a record previously set by Erling Haaland when he was at Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian scored his 50th Bundesliga goal in his 50th game in the league in November 2021, beating Timo Konietzka’s previous record by nine matches.

Kane has been in imperious form since joining Bayern from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2023 and it took him only 43 games to score 50 goals in the German top flight. The 31-year-old has also registered 14 assists in those matches.

Despite Kane’s 36 league goals — 44 in all competitions — last season, Bayern ended the campaign trophyless, finishing third and 18 points behind the undefeated champions Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

This term, Bayern themselves are undefeated after 11 games with nine wins and two draws, with Friday’s win putting them eight points ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig, who play on Saturday.

Analysis by German football writer Sebastian Stafford-Bloor

The context for this achievement is that, for 15 months, Kane has been scoring goals at a record-breaking rate for a Bayern team that has not always functioned particularly well. Yes, they had moments of power under Thomas Tuchel and now Vincent Kompany, but nothing compared with the dominance they enjoyed in previous eras. Kane has been one of the few parts of the team that has worked consistently, scoring goals through force of will at times.

He still faces criticism. The week before the October international break, he and Bayern suffered a frustrating week, drawing at home to Leverkusen, losing away to Aston Villa and then losing a stoppage time lead to draw 3-3 with Eintracht Frankfurt. Kane failed to score in all of those games and, in their aftermath, the German media came as close to rounding on him. Who cares about goals against Holstein Kiel and Bochum? That was the gist.

Augsburg are not a Bundesliga big beast so, most likely, this latest treble — two penalties and a late, scruffy third — will not draw much attention on its own. But, as he did last season, Kane is scoring goals in an imperfect side, within which he is still finding a balance between dropping deep and leading the line. Has he been at most fluent? Not really, but he also leads the side in assists this year and that currency — his literal contribution — is really all that matters at Allianz Arena.

What a luxury for Kompany, too. Several parts of this Bayern side are undergoing renovation. Jamal Musiala has played sensationally well at times, but the defence remains a work in progress, the midfield is missing Aleksandar Pavlovic and Joao Palinha, and — before this season — Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry had both suffered plummets in form.

But the steady beat of Kane’s goalscoring has helped the side develop confidence and authority this season, helping also to inspire individual improvements. Gnabry and Coman are revived. Leon Goretzka provided a beautiful assist for Kane’s hat-trick goal on Friday and cracked a smile for what seemed like the first time this season. These things matter.

Has Kane been a success yet? By his own admission, not until he wins something. After all, he broke plenty of records at Spurs and that was never enough for him. But he is certainly doing his part in leading Bayern towards their broader aims and living up his side of that €100million (now $104m) deal.

(Top photo: Lukas Barth-Tuttas/AFP via Getty Images)