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 on Saturday, 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’s Champions League return
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.
Leipzig was leading 2-0 with both goals from corners after Xaver Schlager bundled in a loose ball just before halftime and Willi Orban headed in shortly after the break.
Relegation-threatened St. Pauli showed late signs of life through Abdoulie Ceesay’s 86th-minute goal off an unusual long-range header assist by Jackson Irvine.
It’s a much better season for Leipzig after placing seventh last year, its worst top-flight finish, and also losing seven of eight Champions League games.
St. Pauli was 17th in the 18-team league following its ninth winless game in a row.
Stuttgart nears Champions League
Deniz Undav’s 19th league goal of the season capped a 3-1 comeback win for Stuttgart over Bayer Leverkusen to leave Stuttgart in the fourth Champions League spot.
Leverkusen stunned with Aleix Garcia’s goal 34 seconds into the game on the counter, but Ermedin Demirovic leveled for Stuttgart in the fifth minute and won a penalty that Maximilian Mittelstädt converted to take the lead just before halftime.
Undav, the second highest scorer in the league after Kane, added a third off Jamie Leweling’s cross.
Leverkusen was sixth with only a slim chance of a Champions League spot.
Hoffenheim was level on points with Stuttgart in fifth after its 1-0 win over Werder Bremen was made easier by a fifth-minute red card for Bremen’s Yukinari Sugawara for a reckless studs-up challenge. Bazoumana Toure scored the only goal from a quickly taken corner.
Augsburg was ninth after a 3-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach boosted its hopes of reaching next season’s Conference League. American midfielder scored for Gladbach in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, his first his club goal since Jan. 14, 2025. Reyna, who entered in the 58th minute, has not started for club since this past Dec. 19.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
