Bayern's Kane sparkles in Bundesliga debut with goal and assist
[1/5]Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Werder Bremen v Bayern Munich - Weser-Stadion, Bremen, Germany - August 18, 2023 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer Acquire Licensing Rights
BREMEN, Germany, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich's record signing Harry Kane scored once and set up another goal on his Bundesliga debut to steer the champions to a 4-0 victory at Werder Bremen on Friday and a winning start to their league season.
England captain Kane, who joined for a league record 100 million euros ($108.68 million) last week to solve Bayern's scoring problems, slotted their second goal in the 74th minute after setting up Leroy Sane for a fourth-minute opener.
Sane added another in the 90th minute with an easy tap-in and Mathys Tel made it 4-0 in stoppage time.
"It was a good evening," Kane told reporters. "It was a tough game but we started well with the early goal. They then made it hard for us in the second half but then I scored the second goal and the lads from the bench did the rest.
"I was a bit nervous and excited. Even though it was not my first match for Bayern I was nervous before the game," Kane said. "I had butterflies in my stomach."
Bayern had suffered a surprise 3-0 home loss to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup last week with Kane making a second half substitute appearance following his move from Tottenham Hotspur.
But they were in no mood for adventures on Friday and quickly went in front when Kane sent Sane clear to beat goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka.
Despite having boxed Werder completely into their own half for much of the first 45 minutes Bayern could not add another with Kane marked well and the visitors trying their luck mainly with long-range efforts.
Werder attempted to catch Bayern off guard straight after the restart and carved out three consecutive chances in the first four minutes of the second half.
The visitors, however, heeded the wake-up call and quickly recovered, responding with Kingsley Coman curling a shot onto the post in the 59th and Kane forcing a good save from Pavlenka two minutes later.
Bayern, who won their 11th straight league crown last season after Borussia Dortmund slipped up on the final matchday, sealed the three points when Kane drilled in their second goal.
It was exactly for such scoring prowess that Bayern brought Kane to Munich, with the Bavarians having struggled for goals since last year's departure of Robert Lewandowski.
With Werder having run out of steam Sane scored his second of the evening after combining with Thomas Mueller in the box and substitute Tel fired in their fourth to wrap up the win.
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Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris
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