Harry Kane scored a goal in each half as Bayern Munich beat Lazio 3-0 on Tuesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals 3-1 on aggregate.
Kane headed Bayern level in the tie in the 38th minute, cancelling out Lazioโs lead from the first leg with his first Champions League knockout goal in five years.
Thomas Mueller doubled the hostsโ lead with a clever header before half-time and Kane doubled up in the 66th minute, tapping in the rebound from a Leroy Sane shot to seal Bayernโs progress to the next round.
Bayern kept theirย slim hopes of silverware this season alive while likely giving outgoing coach Thomas Tuchel a stay of execution until the quarter-finals in April.
The loss snuffed out Lazioโs chance of a first Champions League quarter-final appearance since 1999-2000.
Six-time European champions Bayern came into Tuesdayโs match staring down the barrel of a last-16 elimination for just the second time in the past 14 seasons.
Three straight losses including the 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Rome amounted to Bayernโs worst run since 2015, costing Tuchel his job less than a year after arriving in Munich.
With Tuchel allowed to keep the seat warm until the summer, the coach promised to be more โruthlessโ.
On Tuesday, he benched big-money signing Kim Min-jae for Eric Dier, while moving Joshua Kimmich โ a fixture in midfield for Bayern and Germany โ to right-back.
Bayern pushed Lazio back early with the fit-again Sane and Jamal Musiala going close.
Scorer of the first-legโs only goal, Ciro Immobile had a golden chance to extend Lazioโs lead after a Matthijs de Ligt mistake on 36 minutes but dragged his header just wide.
The miss would prove costly with Kane breaking through moments later, heading in a scuffed Raphael Guerreiro shot to even up the tie.
Mueller, another to see more game time after the announcement of Tuchelโs impending departure, doubled Bayernโs lead in first-half stoppage time, heading in a De Ligt shot in trademark poacher fashion.
Despite 31 goals in 32 games since arriving from Spurs in the summer, the German media joked the famously trophyless Kane had cursed Bayern, in danger of a first season without silverware since 2012.
The England captain made sure Bayern stayed in Europe though, turning in from close range after Sane forced a save from Lazio โkeeper Ivan Provedel, his 33rd goal in as many appearances this season.
With Lazio striker Immobile taken off with a knee injury, the visitors looked toothless in attack as Bayern gently controlled proceedings to take the sting out of the game.
Bayern kept their first clean sheet in eight games with captain Manuel Neuer equalling the Champions League record of 57 set by Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas.
AFP
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