Kane nets hat-trick as Bayern thrash Darmstadt on Neuer's return

Hat-trick hero Harry Kane scored a goal from inside his own half as Bayern Munich thrashed promoted side Darmstadt 8-0 on Manuel Neuer's return to Bundesliga action Saturday.

Kane lobbed goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen from the center circle to score Bayern's fifth and his second as Bayern tore Darmstadt apart on a rollercoaster afternoon for the champions.

"I looked up and I could see the keeper was off his line," explained Kane, adding that "the most important thing was to get the win".

"I'm going home a very happy man," said veteran goalkeeper Neuer, who made his first appearance after almost a year out with a broken leg. 

Yet Neuer's return began in the worst possible way for Bayern.

In a game which saw three red cards before half-time for the first time in Bundesliga history, Joshua Kimmich was the first to go for an early bath.

The Bayern midfielder was sent off for bringing down Marvin Mehlem in front of goal after he lost the ball too easily.

"It was a stupid red card and I'm very annoyed," said Kimmich, who will now miss Bayern's clash with Borussia Dortmund next weekend.

Darmstadt's hopes of a famous win were dashed just 17 minutes later, when Klaus Gjasula was given a somewhat harsh red card for tripping Bayern's Konrad Laimer on the edge of the area.

The visitors then went down to nine men just before half-time after Matej Maglica was sent off for an almost identical challenge on Kane. 

Leroy Sane had a goal ruled out for offside shortly before the break, but Bayern burst out of the blocks in the second half with seven goals in 25 minutes.

Kane finally broke the deadlock with a low header from close range, before Sane doubled the lead with a tap-in moments later.

Jamal Musiala and Sane then put the game beyond Darmstadt's reach with two elegant long-range finishes in quick succession.

Kane delivered the cherry on the cake with his long-range screamer, before Thomas Mueller and Musiala added a sixth and a seventh.

The England captain scored his third just two minutes from time, completing his second hat-trick in nine Bundesliga games this season.

High-fliers Stuttgart suffered their first home defeat of the season in a thrilling 3-2 derby loss to south-western neighbors Hoffenheim.

Grischa Proemel scored an early opener as Hoffenheim hit Stuttgart on the counter-attack early on, before Wout Weghorst doubled the lead from the penalty spot.

Stuttgart missed a penalty at the other end, before Chris Fuehrich scored from close range to spark hope of a comeback after half-time. 

Robert Skov quickly restored Hoffenheim's two-goal lead, though, and a late strike from Deniz Undav was too little, too late for Stuttgart.

Stuttgart are now in third, just one point ahead of RB Leipzig, who thrashed Cologne 6-0 in Saturday's late game.

Timo Werner scored an early penalty, before Leipzig added three more goals in quick succession just before half-time.

Belgian striker Lois Openda scored twice, while Cologne keeper Marvin Schwaebe linked up with the post to somehow gift David Raum a goal.

Benjamin Sesko stabbed home a fifth two minutes from time before Christoph Baumgartner smashed a brilliant long-range strike into the bottom corner in injury time.

Union Berlin extended their miserable losing run to 10 games with a 2-0 defeat away at Werder Bremen.

A Robin Knoche own goal and a second-half strike from Marvin Duksch sank Union, who also lost Rani Khedira to a red card for a dangerous challenge in the second half.

Elsewhere, Augsburg came from behind to beat Wolfsburg 3-2 while Borussia Moenchengladbach battled to a 2-1 win over Heidenheim.

Croatia international Lovro Majer scored his first Bundesliga goal from the spot to put Wolfsburg ahead just before half-time, after Jonas Wind had cancelled out Phillip Tietz's early opener for Augsburg.

Wolfsburg looked comfortable before a bizarre Sebastiaan Bornauw own goal levelled the scores on 79 minutes, and Arne Engels nicked the winner for Augsburg minutes later. 

Alassane Plea gave Gladbach an early lead and the home side looked dominant until Eren Dinkci smashed in an equalizer against the run of play on 38 minutes.

An unlucky own goal from Jonas Foehrenbach put Gladbach back in front shortly after the break.

RESULTS

Bayern 8 (Kane 52, 69, 88, Sane 56, 64, Musiala 60, 76, Mueller 71) Darmstadt 0

Gladbach 2 (Plea 4, Foehrenbach 52-og) Heidenheim 1 (Dinkci 38) 

Bremen 2 (Knoche 38-og, Duksch 75) Union Berlin 0

Stuttgart 2 (Fuehrich 61, Undav 73) Hoffenheim 3 (Proemel 4, Weghorst 21-P, Skov 66) 

Augsburg 3 (Tietz 17, Bornauw 79-og, Engels 81) Wolfsburg 2 (Wind 35, Majer 45-P) 

Leipzig 6 (Werner 15-P, Openda 40, 45+3, Raum 43, Sesko 88, Baumgartner 90+1) Cologne 0

Friday

Bochum 2 (Stoger 21-P, Schlotterbeck 82) Mainz 2 (Schlotterbeck 59-og, Krauss 90)