MOENCHENGLADBACH: Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane netted a penalty to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday in their Erst league match after the winter break, keeping them four points clear of second-placedBayer Leverkusen.

The England captain sent Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas the wrong way in the 68th minute to break the deadlock and bag his 15thleague goalthisseason.

Bayern had control of the game with some 70% possession in the first half but struggled to convert that to goals after going close through Thomas Muller and Leon Goretzlca.

The Bavarians, who had several more chances to score after Kane`s penalty, are in top spot on 39 points, with champions Leverkusen in second place on 35.

It was one-way traffic from the start with Bayern having control of the game.

Gladbach were content to sit back and soak up the pressure,having no effort on or towards goal in the entire first half, and leaving Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, making his comeback after a month-long injury absence, with little to do.

Gladbach`s Tim Kleindienst almost struck four minutes after the restart but his header at the far post flew narrowlyover the bar.

But it was Kane who scored when he converted the spot kick following a foul on Michael Olise in the box.

Vincent Kompany`s team should have scored again late in the game but neither Alphonso Davies nor Serge Gnabry could beat Nicolas.Gladbach dropped to 10th place following their first home game this season in which they failed to score.

`We had many, many good chances,` Bayern`s Joshua Kimmich told Sky Germany. `But we made it a bit too exciting at the end as we could`ve decided things earlier.

Meanwhile, a first-half goal from Omar Marmoush took Eintracht Frankfurt to a 1-0 win at St Pauli amid growing speculation that the Egypt star is on the brink of a move to Manchester City.

Before the game, Frankfurt sporting director Markus Kroesche con firmed `a club had got in contact` about Marmoush, with Sky Germany saying the forward had already agreed personal terms with the English champions.

Marmoush was on target in the 32nd minute against his former club, calmly turning inside the box before firing a shot into the top corner.

The goal was Marmoush`s 14th in 16 Bundesliga games thisseason, one behind Kane. The 25-year-old also has eight league assists.

Elsewhere, Freiburg leapfrogged Borussia Dortmund into sixth with a 3-2 home win over Holstein Kiel highlighted by a stunning free-kick from captain Christian Guenter.

Kiel`s Nicolai Remberg unwittingly diverted an Eren Dinkci cross into his own net on 23 minutes, before Guenter sent an excellent dipping shot into the top corner from wide on the righthand side.

Freiburg`s Vincenzo Grifo added a third although Kiel`s Phil Harres made the home side sweat with two goals in the final five minutes.

In the day`s other fixtures, Union Berlin went down 2-0 with 10 men at Heidenheim while Mainz climbed past RB Leipzig into fourth with a 2-0 home win over lowly Bochum.

A 29th-minute Mohamed Amoura goal took VfL Wolfsburg to a 1-Owinat Hoffenheim.-Agencies