Munich, May 10: Harry Kane’s remarkable penalty conversion streak in the Bundesliga has ended at 24 as the Bayern Munich striker missed a spot kick for the first time, while Leipzig secured a return to the Champions League.
Kane stepped up to the penalty spot at 0-0 against Wolfsburg after teammate Michael Olise was fouled by defender Konstantinos Koulierakis.
Kane seemed to slip slightly as he approached the ball and his shot went wide of the right-hand post.
Bayern still got a 1-0 win in its second-to-last Bundesliga game of the season but it needed a spectacular curling goal off the underside of the crossbar by Olise, and Wolfsburg’s Mattias Svanberg hitting the bar in the 89th minute with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Kane hadn’t missed a penalty in the Bundesliga since he joined Bayern in 2023, with 10 of his 24 scored this season alone.
Across all competitions, Kane has failed to convert three penalties for Bayern this season.
One was saved by third-division Wehen Wiesbaden’s Florian Stritzel in the German Cup and Kane hit the crossbar against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League.
Relegation scenarios
Wolfsburg stayed 16th and in danger of relegation. It last played outside the top division in 1997. American midfielder Kevin Paredes and Algerian striker Mohamed Amoura were “not in the squad for disciplinary reasons,” Wolfsburg said without giving further details.
The bottom three teams – Wolfsburg, St. Pauli and Heidenheim – are battling to avoid ending next week in the bottom two and being relegated. Their only chance is to finish 16th and reach a promotion-relegation playoff against a second-division team.
Wolfsburg visits 17th-placed St. Pauli next Saturday in the final round of regular season games.
Wolfsburg will be relegated with a loss but could survive with a draw. St. Pauli must win.
Last-placed Heidenheim has two games to play and could yet overhaul both Wolfsburg and St. Pauli, but needs to avoid defeat against Cologne on Sunday first.
Leipzig survived a late scare to secure a Champions League return for next season and a 2-1 win over St. Pauli made sure of third place in the Bundesliga. (AP)
