'Worst I've ever met' - Harry Kane and Bayern Munich fume at 'catastrophic' referee after being held to draw by Hamburg

Kane’s frustrations with the referee began in the first half when, just over half-an-hour played, Nicolai Remberg was too quick for Joshua Kimmich and beat the German to a rebound. The Bayern midfielder was then at fault as he tripped the Hamburg midfielder in the box and gave Hamburg a spot-kick. The England forward furiously protested the decision but was waved away. The Arsenal loanee made no mistake from the spot and curled the effort beyond the sprawling Manuel Neuer into the bottom left corner.

Bayern hit back with goals through Kane and Luis Diaz either side of the break. The England forward rifled in from close range to level the game and the Colombian was introduced off the bench at half-time and responded immediately. The winger converted from inside the area from a Michael Olise pass to hand the Frenchman his 15th assist of the season.

Bayern were not ahead for too long and Luka Vuskovic charged past Alphonso Davies to find William Mikelbrencis’ cross and headed home with a powerful effort. The Croatian was immense at the back and did well to wind up Kane, who was growing more frustrated with every chance wasted and shot blocked.

Throughout the game, Bayern were surrounding the referee and felt on more than one occasion that they deserved a penalty. Their appeals were correctly waved away, but that has not stopped Kane from speaking out against the official after the 90 minutes were brought to a close.

After the game, a whole host of Bayern figures and players have spoken out against the referee. In the dressing room, as per Sport1, Kane could be heard saying “not at this level” and Josip Stanisic labelled the referee performance as “catastrophic”. According to Bild, Kane also said he felt the referee was the "the worst I've ever met in football."

Manuel Neuer said: "If the referee is a topic of conversation after the game, that's never a good sign. Ideally, the referee isn't even mentioned. Because then you know he had the game under control. But when you're asked about it so often, that speaks for itself.”

The Bayern sporting director Max Eberl claimed that the referee was “overwhelmed” by the occasion. “A referee who was somewhat overwhelmed in my view, who didn't judge many situations well. That's my opinion, not an excuse,” he said.

Vincent Kompany added to the discussion after the game and suggested that Bayern should have been afforded more injury time to find a winner. “There were a total of 16 minutes of stoppages in play; we could have played another 20 or 25 minutes,” he said. “I think the game was heavily influenced by these situations. If there's six or seven minutes of added time, then something has happened in the game.”

Kompany insisted that he was not unhappy with the way in which Hamburg played and claimed that he had “total respect” for the side which took a point against his. Rather, of the referee, he said: “I had the feeling that clear situations were made complicated.”

Bayern did not always get given 50/50 decisions by the referee, but they can have few complaints over the major decisions. Olise threw himself to the ground trying to win a penalty and was rightly waved away. Kane also attempted to deceive the referee with a handful of exaggerated falls.

The anger shown by Bayern reflects the difficulties they had in seeing off a Hamburg side who deserved something from the game. The away team appealed for every decision, frequently claiming handballs for blocks made by Hamburg players, even if the ball was not near an arm.

Bayern remain nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and will likely canter away with the title. They can make another step towards that title with victory against Hoffenheim next weekend.