Harry Kane's perfect penalties mask a difficult season for the Bayern striker

On the face of it, Harry Kane is having the best goalscoring season of his career. But there's still much for the England striker to prove if Bayern Munich are to thrive in 2025.

Harry Kane smiled from ear to ear as he answered easy questions on the sidelines of the Allianz Arena pitch on Friday night. Following a straightforward 3-0 win over Werder Bremen, in which the guests had gifted their hosts not one but two penalties, the England international had duly wasted no time in adding to his goal haul for the season by bagging a brace from the spot. The 31-year-old striker now has 28 goals and 10 assists in 28 games for Bayern Munich this season and has already scored eight goals since the turn of the year. Only three players across Europe’s top leagues have managed more in that time.

"Maybe, it's possible," joked Kane when asked by the DAZN pitch-side reporter if he’ll ever miss another penalty again. Remarkably, the striker has converted all nine of his penalties for the Munich giants this season. In fact, Kane hasn’t missed a penalty in the Bundesliga since he made the move to Germany. "Harry trains with the processes, so it's no coincidence. He takes his time with discipline,” noted captain Manuel Neuer after the match. The club president went one step further. "I don't know anyone who takes penalties better than him,” proclaimed Herbert Hainer, as his side extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points.

Kane’s record from the penalty spot is nothing short of perfect. And when we consider that the average penalty kick has a 75 percent chance of hitting the back of the net, it only underlines the comments made by Neuer and Hainer about the striker honing his skill to an incredible degree. However, while penalties are a handy way of winning football games, they are also entirely separate from the real-time action of a match. And like a kicker coming on to convert a field goal in American football, Kane’s ability to score penalties can be appreciated to a point. But when it begins to mask his in-game record, the praise can begin to look a little disingenuous.