Manuel Neuer heaped praise on Bayern Munich match-winner Harry Kane after the Bundesliga leaders' 1-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Kane scored his fifteenth goal of the season from the penalty spot midway through the second half on Saturday, after Lukas Ullrich had caught Michael Olise in the penalty area.
The England captain stepped up before sending Moritz Nicolas the wrong way and scored his 26th consecutive penalty for club and country in all competitions.
Kane contributed an expected goals ratio (xG) of 0.81 to Bayern's mammoth total of 4.28, along with midfielder Thomas Müller the most among his teammates.
Vincent Kompany's team had plenty of opportunities to make it a better score in Borussia-Park, with Alphonso Davies and Serge Gnabry coming closest to the visitors.
After the match, Neuer praised Kane's contribution to the match, with his goal on Saturday putting him at the top of the scoring charts alongside Omar Marmoush.
“We need Harry, we know that. He is not only a brilliant striker from the penalty spot, but also in the penalty area,” said Neuer.
“He offers a lot of space and the scoring chances we create are often thanks to him, even when he is supposedly not involved.
“And I think it suited the game that it had to be a penalty from him. Harry is on a great streak now and is just a weapon for us.”
Although Kane proved to be the difference maker in the match, he endured a difficult outing against Mönchengladbach and was rarely involved in the encounter from open play.
He had the fewest touches of all outfield players who started the match (36), and finished with a passing accuracy of just 62.4%, also the lowest among those in the starting line-up.
However, Kane was unconcerned about his contributions during the match, suggesting that scoring goals will bring the most benefit to the team.
“I don't think I'm touch hungry. It's about being effective when you have the ball, creating chances and getting into the right places,” Kane said.
“You get matches like that.
“On Wednesday I might touch the ball a hundred times and I won't score and I won't influence the game. So it's more about how you influence the game with the touches you have.”
Kane was also able to detail changes to his penalty routine, which caused him to stutter in his run-up before striking the ball.
“I normally do it every week, the day before a match. It's the type of person I am, to keep improving and always try to keep the goalkeepers guessing,” Kane added.
“It was a good series of penalties but as always it's about the process and the mentality and luckily it was another penalty that hit the net.”
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