BERLIN: Harry Kane scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich marked their 35th German title with a 5-1 win over Cologne on the final day of the Bundesliga season on Saturday.
The result capped a dominant campaign for Bayern, while the final matchday also settled major battles for European qualification and relegation. VfB Stuttgart secured a place in the Champions League, while St. Pauli and Heidenheim were relegated from the Bundesliga.
Kane opened the scoring with a first-half volley and added a direct free-kick before completing his fourth hat-trick of the season. The England forward finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 36 goals.
Cologne briefly responded through Said El Mala, who scored with a solo effort, but Bayern pulled away through further goals from Kane, Tom Bischof and Nicolas Jackson.
Wolfsburg survive as St. Pauli and Heidenheim go down
At the bottom of the table, Wolfsburg avoided automatic relegation after winning a tense three-way battle involving St. Pauli and Heidenheim.
All three teams began the day level on points, but Wolfsburg’s 3-1 victory over St. Pauli secured 16th place and a spot in the relegation play-off.
St. Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj made several first-half saves before Konstantinos Koulierakis headed Wolfsburg in front from a corner. Abdoulie Ceesay equalised for St. Pauli after the break, but Wolfsburg regained the lead in controversial fashion when Vasilj deflected the ball into his own net following another corner.
The goal was allowed after a VAR review despite St. Pauli’s appeals for a push on the goalkeeper.
Christian Eriksen later missed a penalty for Wolfsburg, but Dezan Pejcinovic scored soon after to confirm St. Pauli’s relegation. Wolfsburg will now face one of Hannover, Elversberg or Paderborn in the play-off later this month.
Heidenheim were also relegated after losing 2-0 at home to Mainz. Philipp Tietz headed Mainz ahead early before setting up Nadiem Amiri for the second goal before half-time.
Stuttgart secure Champions League place
Stuttgart confirmed Champions League qualification with a 2-2 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Chema and Nikolas Nartey gave Stuttgart a two-goal lead in the first half, but Jonathan Burkardt scored two late penalties to earn Frankfurt a point. The result was still enough for Stuttgart to finish above Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen.
Leverkusen qualified for the Europa League despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Hamburg. Fabio Vieira put Hamburg ahead with a second-half strike before Jarell Quansah equalised late for Leverkusen.
Hoffenheim missed the chance to climb higher after a 4-0 defeat away to Borussia Moenchengladbach. Hugo Bolin and Haris Tabakovic scored before half-time, while Kevin Diks and Robin Hack added late goals.
Freiburg claim European qualification
Freiburg secured seventh place and European qualification with a 4-1 win over RB Leipzig.
Freiburg’s final European destination will depend on the outcome of their Europa League final against Aston Villa later this month. They could play in either the Conference League or the Champions League next season.
Borussia Dortmund ended their season with a 2-0 win over Werder Bremen, with Serhou Guirassy and Yan Couto scoring the goals.
Union Berlin also finished strongly, beating Augsburg 4-0. Andrej Ilic, Woo-yeong Jeong and Andras Schafer were among the scorers as Union gave interim coach Marie-Louise Eta a winning send-off in her final match in charge.
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