An improving Kiel side may have seen this fixture as something of a free hit, and that set them at ease in a promising opening. They came close to a breakthrough inside the opening quarter-hour when Timo Becker made a run in behind Dayot Upamecano and squared for Phil Harres, but he fired wide of the near post.
That miss ultimately proved costly as a slick Bayern move opened up the division’s most porous defence on 19 minutes, with Michael Olise laying on for Jamal Musiala to slot his 10th Bundesliga goal of the season into the bottom corner.
It was a cruel blow for the visitors, but they kept coming forward and were only denied an equaliser by a goalline clearance from Kim Min-jae, who prevented Lewis Holtby on the breakaway.
Vincent Kompany’s men regrouped and came close to doubling their advantage twice before the break. Olise cut in from the left and curled narrowly wide of the top corner, while Aleksandar Pavlovic took aim at the same target, with his deflected effort brilliantly saved by Timon Weiner.
Kiel’s goal was eventually breached for a second time with seconds of first-half stoppage time remaining, as Kingsley Coman stood a cross up for Harry Kane to head home and mark his 50th Bundesliga appearance with a 54th goal.
It was a killer blow for the visitors, and their morale had clearly been depleted as Kane doubled his personal tally within 45 seconds of the restart, heading into the far corner after being found by Raphael Guerreiro.
There was a real danger of the floodgates opening when Serge Gnabry made it four within nine minutes of the restart. The substitute showed tremendous technical quality to bring a high ball under his spell and unleash a sweetly-struck left-footed volley home, but his effort was arguably upstaged at the other end by Finn Porath, who beautifully curled home his first Bundesliga goal to continue Kiel’s record of scoring in all of their away league matches this term.
Bayern had withdrawn the likes of Kane and Coman moments before that goal, and the net result was a low-key final half-hour that exploded into life in stoppage time.
Kiel took advantage of the hosts’ complacency with Steven Skrzybski sweeping home from Becker’s cutback before adding another on the rebound moments later.
It was no less than their brave performance had deserved, but there simply wasn’t enough time for the visitors to complete a miraculous comeback. That ensured Bayern secured a 23rd successive home win against sides in their first Bundesliga season, taking their dominance over Kiel this term to an aggregate score of 10-4.
The visitors remain in the drop zone and six points adrift of safety – a gap that could grow with the likes of Hoffenheim and Union Berlin still to play this weekend.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)