Harry Kane to the rescue as Bayern Munich survive Wehen Wiesbaden scare in DFB Cup

Harry Kane scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season and also had a penalty saved as Bayern Munich reached the DFB Cup second round, surviving a spirited fightback from third-tier outfit Wehen Wiesbaden to win 3-2 on Wednesday evening.

Wiesbaden 2-3 Bayern
Goals: 0-1 Kane (pen. 16’), 0-2 Olise (51′), 1-2 Kaya (64′), 2-2 Kaya (69′), 2-3 Kane (90’+3)

Bayern made their intentions clear straight from kick-off as Kane slipped a pass in for Luis Díaz to have the game’s first shot after just 11 seconds, but his effort was well saved by Florian Stritzel.

The Wiesbaden goalkeeper was called into action several times throughout the first half, denying Díaz a couple more times and also producing a fine stop at full stretch to prevent Raphael Guerreiro’s close-range strike finding the bottom corner.

He was powerless to prevent Bayern taking the lead, however, with Kane coolly converting from the spot after Ryan Johansson had fouled Sacha Boey. Wiesbaden’s best chance of the half fell to Nikolas Agrafiotis following a god counter on 38 minutes, but his attempted curler into the top corner from the edge of the box sailed over the bar.

After scoring once in the Supercup and a hat-trick in Bayern’s Bundesliga opener, Kane’s penalty was his fifth goal of 2025/26. – IMAGO/Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images

Any hopes of an unlikely comeback were seemingly quashed early in the second half when Lennart Karl’s driving run into the box led to the ball arriving at the feet of Michael Olise, who stroked in his first-ever goal in the competition.

Guerreiro had a goal disallowed for offside moments later and Díaz had two chances, first blazing wide and then over with just Stritzel to beat as Bayern threatened to tighten their grip on the game.

However, the home side pulled a goal back midway through the half when Fatih Kaya ghosted behind Jonathan Tah at the back post to convert a teasing left-wing cross from Niklas May.

More drama was to come when Kaya added his second of the game just a few minutes later, latching on to a flick-on to race through on goal and bury the equaliser past Jonas Urbig. 

Kane could have restored Bayern’s lead shortly afterwards with another penalty, but Stritzel not only saved the spot-kick, he kept out two follow-up efforts. That set up a nail-biting finale as Wiesbaden dug in, but Kane popped up in stoppage time to head in a late winner that sent the Bundesliga champions into the second round. 

Moment of magic: Kane heads in Bayern’s late winner to send them through. – Alex Grimm

Match stats

• Bayern haven’t gone beyond the quarter-finals since winning a record-extending 20th DFB Cup in 2019/20. They’ve fallen in the second round in three of the last five seasons.
• Karl, 17, made his starting debut for Bayern in this match. 
• Among active players in the Bundesliga, Manuel Neuer is the most successful in the DFB Cup, with six winner’s medals (one with Schalke, five with Bayern). Former Bayern teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger holds the outright record (seven).
• Kompany won six domestic cups as a player with Manchester City.
• This was the first competitive between Wiesbaden – who have never played in the Bundesliga – and Germany’s most successful club.
• Wiesbaden made their 17th DFB Cup appearance. Their best run was in 2008/09, when they reached the quarter-finals, losing 2-1 to Hamburg.

Teams

Full-time: Wehen Wiesbaden 2-3 Bayern Munich

An incredible night of football ends with a win for Bayern, but they certainly had to work for it! A second half resurgence saw Kaya net two well taken goals to put an upset on the cards, only for his opposite number nine to ruin the hosts’ dream with a late, late header. Wiesbaden can be proud of their performance, but it’s Bayern who advance.

© IMAGO/Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images

Full-time

Kane breaks Wiesbaden hearts!

A deep cross from the left by Stanišić finds him at the far post, and he heads the ball down past the onrushing Stritzel for the winner.

© KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV

Five more minutes

Five minutes separate the two sides from extra-time.

© Alex Grimm

Extra-time approaching?

As we enter the 90th minute, the possibility of extra-time becomes ever more real.

Laimer goes it alone

The Austrian forces his way into the box from the right-hand side, but is eventually crowded out by the Wiesbaden defence.

Bayern on edge

The Bundesliga champions are beginning to look a bit nervous, as they begin trying their luck from distance and snatching at shots around the box.

Kaya departs

The hosts’ two-goal hero leaves the action having given absolutely everything to get his team back in the game.

Penalty saved, unbelievable!

Stritzel flies to his right to saved Kane’s shot, and then gets a hand to the ball in the following scramble to poke the ball home. The ball becomes loose and Wiesbaden have to clear another shot off the line, but they survive.

© Alex Grimm

Penalty for Bayern!

Just as it looks like we have an upset on our hands, Wiesbaden conceded a penalty. Gnabry has a low shot deep inside the box saved and chaos ensues. Kane tries to latch onto the rebound of his own shot, but is caught as he pulls back to shoot and wins a penalty.

It’s level, 2-2!

Incredible scenes here in Wiesbaden. A flick on catches Bayern’s high line out, and Kaya races on toward goal, facing up Urbig before slamming the ball home.

© IMAGO/Ulrich Hufnagel

Wiesbaden are back in it, 2-1!

May cuts back under pressure from Olise to the left of the box, before bending an incredible cross to Kaya at the far post, where the forward finishes first time into the far bottom corner of Urbig’s goal.

© IMAGO/nordphoto GmbH / Bratic

Díaz squanders a golden chance

Olise tries to weave his wave through a crowd of Wiesbaden shirts in the area, but comes up short. Díaz the capitalises on their inability to clear and pounces on the ball, putting himself one-on-one with Stritzel, before firing the ball into the stands. Big chance!

Guerreiro scored, but it’s ruled out

Olise threads a pass through to Kane, who then squares for the Portugal international to knock into an empty net, but it turns out Kane was offside in the build up.

Olise doubles the lead!

A darting run infield by Karl looks to have hit a wall, and he pokes the ball through to Kane before a Wiesbaden player intervenes. The ball rolls past Kane and then Boey, with a black and red shirt inadvertently poking the ball through to Olise, who sweeps the ball home with his left foot into the near corner.

The first yellow

Bayern’s Pavlović gets the first booking of the game after catching Agrafiotis.

Back underway

The action resumes here in Wiesbaden.

Kick-off!

Half-time: Wehen Wiesbaden 0-1 Bayern Munich

Bayern go into the break a goal ahead and full value for their lead. They’ve opened up the opposition defence on numerous occasions, and arguably should be further ahead. The hosts have tried to attack Bayern when they can and have shown they can move the ball forward quickly, but are yet to really threaten Bayern apart from Kaya’s half chance.

© Alex Grimm

Half-time

One minute more

There will be one minute of additional time before the break.

Olise looking lively

Neat combination play sees him get in behind the Wiesbaden backline, but his pass to Kane is cut out.

The hosts with a chance

A quick break sees Kaya get the ball just inside the area; he takes a touch before shooting against a Bayern leg, with Agrafiotis picking up the scraps. He then tries to bend one into the far corner from the edge of the area, but it goes comfortably over.

Díaz with the acrobatics

Instead of taking down a lofted pass, the Bayern winger goes for an ambitious bicycle kick from the corner of the box, and isn’t too far away.

Another top save from Stritzel!

An overhit corner is headed back into the danger area by Tah and then hooked goalwards by Guerreiro, requiring Stritzel to spring down to his right and push it around the post.

Díaz with another opportunity

A low cross from Boey finds Díaz only a few yards out from goal but his first time finish bounces straight off a black and red shirt.

Bayern back in control

All 10 outfield players are now camped inside the opposition half as they search for a second.

Wiesbaden looking for a foothold

They’ve passed the ball well at times and don’t look too shaken by the goal, but have struggled to get into Bayern’s final third.

© IMAGO/Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images

Great save by Stritzel

Kimmich feeds Díaz inside the area and the Colombian digs out an effort toward the far corner of the goal, but Stritzel is one step ahead and palms it away with a strong hand.

Bayern lead 1-0!

Kane stutters his run up before rolling the ball to the ‘keeper’s left, sending him the other way.

© IMAGO/Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images

Harry Kane

GOAL!

0:1

Penalty

Penalty for Bayern!

Boey is pulled back as he tries to get on the end of a Guerreiro cross, and the referee points to the spot.

Bayern probing

The opening exchanges have been almost all Bayern, and they’ve come close to snatching the opener on a couple of occasions.

© IMAGO/HMB Media/Claus

How did that not go in?

Great work by Boey leads to him feeding Kane just outside the six yard box, where he fires first time against a Wiesbaden body. He tries to poke the rebound in, but the defender’s foot pokes it in the direction of Díaz, who appears to have a tap-in. A Wiesbaden shirt gets there first again, however, and the hosts survive.

Olise fires over

The Frenchman receives the ball a couple of yards outside the left-hand side of the area, shifts the ball onto his right and aims towards the top corner, but doesn’t connect properly and sees it fly over.

Promising move

A flowing passing move from Wiesbaden puts May in a good position to cross from the left, but his delivery is slightly overhit and Bayern re-group.

An instant chance!

Straight from the kick-off, Díaz finds himself in behind and with a clear sight of goal, but Stritzel makes himself big and saves well!

The action begins!

The visitors get the ball rolling tonight.

Kick-off!

Pitch inspection

The Bayern players get a feel for the playing surface at their third-tier hosts.

© Alex Grimm

Wiesbaden make three changes

Flotho, Haji Lor and Wohlers all started in their 4-3 loss to Rot-Weiß Essen, but are replaced tonight by Agrafiotis, Bogicevic and Mockenhaupt.

More on those teams

Bayern make six changes from their huge win over Leipzig. Urbig, Kim, Boey, Guerreiro, Pavlović and Karl all come in for Neuer, Upamecano, Laimer, Stanišić, Goretzka and Gnabry.

Wiesbaden starting lineup

Stritzel – Mockenhaupt, Gillekens, Janitzek, May – Schleimer, Gözüsirin, Bogicevic, Johansson – Agrafiotis, Kaya (c)

Wiesbaden subs

Brdar, Lewald, Neubert, Fechner, Greilinger, Nejad, Haji Lor, Wohlers, Becker, Flotho

Starting line-up: Bayern Munich

Bayern subs

Klanac, Upamecano, Gnabry, Goretzka, Laimer, Kiala, Mike, Kusi-Asare, Stanišić

6:56

Watch: Michael Olise, Bayern’s Mr. Nonchalant

The winger was sensational on Bundesliga Matchday 1 against RB Leipzig. What kind of impact will he have in today’s game?

Clear favourites

In their past 44 DFB cup matches against clubs from lower divisions, Bayern have been victorious 42 times. Only in the 2023/24 season (2-1 at Saarbrücken) and 2020/21 (6-5 on penalties at Holstein Kiel) were the Bavarians handed such an upset.

© IMAGO/Eibner-Pressefoto/Alexander Neis

First round veterans

Bayern have won every one of their 30 first-round matches in the DFB Cup – the current record in the competition. The last time the Bavarians stumbled at the first hurdle was back in 1994/95, when they were beaten 1-0 away at Vestenbergsgreuth.

2:03

Watch: Bayern 6-0 Leipzig

The Bundesliga champions produced a statement result on the season’s opening night by thrashing Leipzig in Munich last weekend.

Vincent Kompany on facing Wiesbaden

“I know they’re near Frankfurt but had to check on a map. What they do very well is counter-attack, with one or two touches. They have guys with a feel for space, so they’re dangerous. Obviously we’re the favourites. We’re excited about it. We don’t just get excited for games at the Allianz Arena.”

© DFL/Getty Images/Lukas Schulze

Nils Döring on facing Bayern

“It’s always about order, discipline and a clear defensive approach first and foremost against Bayern. Obviously they’ll have lots of possession, but we still want to be courageous. The key thing is to keep the game exciting for as long as possible and get the special atmosphere on our side. I don’t need to motivate the guys. It’s important to keep cool heads.”

© IMAGO/Justin Woodson/rscp

A talent production line

Numerous Bundesliga players have represented Wiesbaden in recent years, most notably: Robert Andrich (Leverkusen, pictured), Benedict Hollerbach (Mainz), Phillip Tietz (Augsburg), Daniel Kofi-Kyereh (Freiburg), and the now retired duo of Stefan Aigner (former Eintracht Frankfurt) and Benjamin Hübner (former Hoffenheim) even further back.

© Fotostand / Racocha via www.imago-images.de

Bayern’s red hot attack

Their front four of Kane, Gnabry, Olise and Díaz were absolutely electric against Leipzig, and it’s hard to imagine that many defences will be able to keep them quiet this season. Kane began the 2025/26 season with a hattrick, while Olise got two for himself and new signing Díaz also got in on the action with a thunderous strike to open his Bundesliga account. While Gnabry wasn’t on the scoresheet, he did register two assists and was a constant thorn in Leipzig’s side throughout the game.

Kaya the key for Wiesbaden?

Wiesbaden striker and captain, Fatih Kaya, has two goals and an assist in the first three games of the season, appearing have brought his form from last season into the current campaign. He netted 20 goals in 35 third division games for the side in 2024/25, and is someone Bayern will need to keep an eye on if they’re to avoid another upset.

© IMAGO/Maximilian Koch

Could Wiesbaden cause an upset?

The last time that they went beyond the second round was in the 2008/09 season, when they reached the quarter-finals against Hamburg, losing 2-1. They did take Mainz to extra-time in the first round of the 2024/25 season, but were eventually beaten 3-1.

© IMAGO/Andreas Volz

DFB Cup demons

Bayern have struggled in the DFB Cup in recent years, despite their Bundesliga successes. They’ve failed to get beyond the quarter-finals since the 2019/20 season, when they last won the competition. In the years since that 4-2 final win over Bayer Leverkusen, they’ve fallen to the likes of Holstein Kiel (Bundesliga 2) and Saarbrücken (third division, pictured), exiting the competition as early as the second round on three occasions.

© IMAGO/Fabian Kleer

Contrasting preparations

The hosts come into this game on the back of a 4-3 loss at home to Rot-Weiß Essen, their first loss of their third division season which is already three games in. The visitors arrive in Wiesbaden having had the perfect start to their Bundesliga title defence, as they smashed six past RB Leipzig without response at the Allianz Arena.

© IMAGO/Oryk HAIST

Welcome!

With Bayern competing in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup on the same weekend as the remaining first-round fixtures, they finally get their DFB Cup campaign underway on Wednesday with a trip to Wehen Wiesbaden of the 3. Liga.