Brits Abroad: Harry Kane smashes three records in Der Klassiker victory at Jobe Bellingham's expense as Raheem Sterling continues slow start with 'headless chicken' Feyenoord

Football is a simple game. If Harry Kane is playing, he's almost certain to score a goal. He's been doing that for well over a decade now, but this season with Bayern Munich is now already his best from a personal perspective.

His brace in Bayern's 3-2 win at rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday took his season tally to 45, surpassing his previous high of 44 during his debut 2023-24 season in Bavaria. Kane also became the first Englishman since the legendary Dixie Dean to hit the 45-goal mark in a season for a top-flight club - that record standing since 1932 - and is one of only four players to have scored twice in four successive Bundesliga games.

Kane's goals at Signal-Iduna Park came at crucial times for Bayern, too. Nico Schlotterbeck had given the hosts the lead heading into the half-time break, before the England captain levelled proceedings with a well-taken effort from close range. He then put Bayern 2-1 up from the penalty spot, and though Daniel Svensson appeared to have clawed back a late point for BVB, Joshua Kimmich struck in the final few minutes as the visitors ran out as victors.

Kimmich spoke of his disbelief at Kane's remarkable consistency post-match. "Harry is unbelievable," the midfielder said. "He scores twice every week and for us it's so important to have a player like him. Not only because of his goals but also how he leads the team, how he steps forward, and how he wants to be responsible for the wins and the results. It's really important for the group to have players like him."

There's still another record in Kane's sights, with Robert Lewandowski's total of 41 goals in a single Bundesliga season up for grabs. Kane is on 30 with 10 games remaining and mused: "I know this question will come up after every game now, but there are still many matches to play. I need to maintain consistency during this period, and we'll see at the end of April if that's possible."

While it was a night to remember for Kane, it's one that Jobe Bellingham will want to forget in a hurry. The younger brother of former Dortmund hero Jude hasn't enjoyed the easiest of maiden seasons in the famous yellow and black, and some fans are getting on his back for his role in this latest defeat to Bayern.

Bellingham was introduced as a 75th-minute substitute while BVB were still trailing 2-1, and while he wasn't involved in the move leading to Svensson's equaliser, he has been teased that he 'assisted' the winning goal for the Bundesliga leaders. Michael Olise scampered to the byline and delivered a teasing cross towards Jamal Musiala, only for Bellingham to get a head on it first. However, the ball dropped kindly for Kimmich to hit on the volley and find the net with one final twist of the contest.

Was this really Bellingham's fault? It's hard to put too much blame at his door. His first instinct is simply to get rid of a cross that may or may not be heading towards an intended target. Even if you want to be critical of where the clearance landed (or was going to land, to be more precise), the chances of Kimmich coming in and blasting one into the top corner on his weaker foot on the volley is ludicrously low.

So, to conclude, is Bellingham to blame? Not really, but it's still another lowlight of a testing first season abroad.

Bayer Leverkusen returned to domestic action after seeing off Olympiacos in the knockout round play-offs of the Champions League, setting up a last-16 tie against Arsenal. But before they can turn their attention to the Gunners, they have to get their flailing Bundesliga campaign back on track.

Kasper Hjulmand's side have dropped to sixth in the standings following a run of one win in their last four, which included a 1-1 draw at home to Mainz on Saturday. Frustrated by the stubbornness of their visitors, Leverkusen fell behind midway through the second half to a strike from Sheraldo Becker, and they appeared to be tumbling towards another defeat. However, former Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah became a makeshift striker for the dying embers of the contest and grabbed an equaliser with two minutes remaining, sliding in at the front post to convert from Christian Kofane's cutback.

This was Quansah's fourth goal for Leverkusen since joining them from Liverpool last summer, and given the stiff competition for places in Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad, the one-cap England international is doing his chances of securing a spot no harm by showing his menace in both boxes.

"We didn't have enough energy, not enough intensity," Quansah told Leverkusen's club channels. "It's not the end of the world now, we have to keep that in mind. There are still many games and important months to come. We want to qualify for the Champions League, of course. And to do that, we have to win games, that's what it's all about at the end of the season."

Ethan Nwaneri's loan from Arsenal to Marseille hasn't exactly paid dividends just yet. He made a scoring start to life with OM, netting on his debut in a 3-1 win against Ligue 1 title challengers Lens, but has only played over an hour of football in one of the following six games. The departure of head coach Roberto De Zerbi and general turbulence that engulfs Marseille at any given time hasn't helped matters.

But Sunday may have been a turning point in Nwaneri's spell in France. He was introduced as a substitute for the final 27 minutes at home to rivals Lyon while the game was level at 1-1, and though the visitors went back in front shortly after the Englishman's introduction, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brought OM level again heading into the final knockings.

Then, with one last sweeping attack, Nwaneri pulled out to the left and put the ball on a plate with a delicious low cross for fellow Arsenal alumni Aubameyang to tap in and send the Stade Velodrome crazy.

That result moved Marseille to within two points of Lyon in third, the last automatic Champions League qualification spot in Ligue 1.

It's fair to say Raheem Sterling is still feeling the effects of having been bombed out of Chelsea's first-team setup for the first half of the 2025-26 season, which itself came off the back of an underwhelming year on loan at Arsenal. The winger has a new home in Rotterdam with Robin van Persie's Feyenoord, who sit second in the Eredivisie but are a whopping 17 points behind runaway leaders PSV. While the title dream is all but dead, they can still secure automatic qualification to next season's Champions League.

They will, however, need to buck their ideas up. Sterling made his debut off the bench last week during Feyenoord's unconvincing 2-1 win at home to relegation-battling Telstar, and they were beaten 2-0 by Twente in his second game on Sunday.

The England icon was afforded half an hour of action - "Sterling can't play longer than half an hour," was Van Persie's message post-match - as the visitors looked to come back from a goal down. To his credit, Sterling did try and get into the game, but his execution was off, failing to complete any of his three dribbles while winning only two of his seven duels.

Most of the criticism has been aimed at Van Persie, with the players excused because of a supposed lack of tactical instructions. Former Ajax and PSV star Kenneth Perez told ESPN: "It was chaos. There were accusatory looks at everything and everyone. Nobody was walking around happy. If you don't know what to do and how to solve things, you're not happy.

"I've been fortunate enough to have great coaches who could tactically implement it during matches. Coaches with two or three scenarios in mind beforehand. That made you confident on the pitch. Feyenoord were a headless chicken. There's no guidance from the sidelines. There's absolutely no communication. It was abysmal today."

Wrapping up this week's review, we have some news on Jesse Lingard's latest side-quest. Following an eventful two-year spell in South Korea with FC Seoul, the Manchester United academy product is taking his talents to South America.

A 'Brits Abroad' regular from beyond Europe, Lingard will imminently sign a contract with Brazilian heavyweights Corinthians, allowing him to link up with former team-mate Memphis Depay again. The two briefly rubbed shoulders during the Dutchman's two-year stint at Old Trafford, though haven't played together in almost a decade now.

Now 33, Lingard is seemingly spending the twilight of his career trying to complete Football Manager's pentagon challenge in real life. Fair enough.