Kane hits hat-trick, St. Pauli relegated from Bundesliga
Harry Kane celebrates the Bundesliga success after victory over Cologne (Alexandra BEIER) Forward Harry Kane scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich celebrated their 35th German title on a gripping final day of the Bundesliga season on Saturday with a 5-1 win over Cologne. Stuttgart secured Champions League qualification and St. Pauli and Heidenheim were relegated elsewhere on an action-packed final matchday.
England's Kane scored an elegant volley and a direct free-kick in the first half before rounding off his fourth hat-trick of the season, ending as the league’s top scorer with 36 goals. Said El Mala scored a superb solo goal for Cologne, but efforts from Kane, Tom Bischof and Nicolas Jackson saw Bayern run away with victory. At the other end of the table, Wolfsburg won a dramatic, three-way fight with St.
Pauli and Heidenheim to avoid automatic relegation. The bottom three all began the day on equal points, but Wolfsburg's pulse-racing 3-1 win over St. Pauli meant they secured the all-important relegation play-off place in 16th.
St. Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj kept Wolfsburg at bay with some smart saves in the first half before Konstantinos Koulierakis headed the visitors in front from a corner. Half-time substitute Abdoulie Ceesay gave St.
Pauli hope with a header on 57 minutes, but tempers flared after Wolfsburg restored the lead in controversial circumstances. Vasilj claimed he had been pushed after deflecting the ball into his own net at a corner, but the goal was given after a nail-biting VAR check. Christian Eriksen missed a penalty for Wolfsburg 15 minutes from time, but Dezan Pejcinovic sealed St.