In the first half of Bayern Munich’s 4-1 win over VfL Osnabrück, Harry Kane scored Bayern’s first goal to even the scoreline. The goal extended Kane’s streak to seven consecutive DFB-Pokal games, matching Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang record streak. Kane made it a double in the 86th minute by polishing off a penalty kick opportunity earned by Aleksandar Pavlović.
The announcers posited that Kane would immediately be thinking about a hat trick. Then the fourth official brought out the substitution board
and Kane’s number nine flashed red on the screen. But with Ismael Saibari already removed from the match, who could be Kane’s replacement?
None other than right-back Konrad Laimer.
Granted, pigeonholing Laimer as an outside defender is a bit extreme. He primarily played as a midfielder in previous stints at RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig before joining Bayern on a free transfer in 2024. He moves around the formation for his national team, Austria.
It was probably more practical to push Luis Díaz or Lennart Karl up top. However, Vincent Kompany clearly instructed Laimer to just be an energizer bunny and press anything and everything during the dying minutes of the match.
This is hardly a long-term solution if Kane goes down with an injury and misses an extended period of time. However, anything to preserve the 33-year old Englishman will elate Bayern fans.
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