Achieving career milestones can be rare for a player of Harry Kane‘s stature, but the England captain managed to do just that by netting an 87th-minute goal during Bayern Munich‘s 2-2 draw against Mainz in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Kane’s late penalty not only salvaged a point for his team, preventing their first loss of the season but also marked his 50th goal for Bayern in 2025—a personal best for the former Tottenham forward in a single calendar year.
Robert Lewandowski, Kane’s predecessor at Bayern, also achieved this milestone in 2021 when he scored 58 goals for the club that year.
Mainz, heavy underdogs, were contesting their first league match under newly appointed coach Urs Fischer, who previously found success with Union Berlin. Fischer took over last week following Mainz’s poor start to the Bundesliga season.
Bayern controlled the game early on, with Lennart Karl, the club’s latest sensation, putting them ahead in the 29th minute with a well-placed tap-in following a cross from Serge Gnabry.
This marked Bayern’s 50th Bundesliga goal of the season, setting a record after just 14 matches.
However, Bayern’s failure to capitalize on their dominance led to a shocking equalizer just before halftime when defender Kacper Potulski headed in a goal after a free kick from William Böving. This was Potulski’s first Bundesliga goal in only his second appearance, and he is only 18 years old.
The visiting fans were ecstatic when Lee Jae-Sung scored with another header from a deep cross by Stefan Bell in the 67th minute, but Bayern still had time to mount a comeback.
Vincent Kompany brought on Senegal forward Nicolas Jackson for his farewell before heading to Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations beginning Dec. 21. Canada‘s Alphonso Davies stepped on for his first league match in nine months, having recovered from a significant knee injury.
Potulski was penalized for holding Kane, allowing the England forward to convert his 17th Bundesliga goal of the season from the penalty spot.
Information from The Associated Press was referenced in this article.