Bayern Munich hit back from a goal down to snatch a 2-1 first leg lead in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final with Manchester United.
Red Devils head home trailing, but with a precious away goal
Bayern Munich hit back from a goal down to snatch a 2-1 first leg lead in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final with Manchester United.
Wayne Rooney's 34th goal of the season handed them the perfect start, but the dangerous Franck Ribery levelled for the German giants in the second half and Ivica Olic grabbed a late winner - evoking memories of the 1999 final when United did the same thing to their German opponents.
It took United less than two minutes to snatch the priceless away goal Sir Alex Ferguson so desperately craved prior to kick-off.
Nani swung over a looping free-kick from the right and Rooney, who benefitted from an untimely slip from Martin Demichelis, was left all alone six yards out to volley into the roof of the net.
Paul Scholes fired wide shortly after, as the Red Devils found their stride, but Bayern were unsurprisingly jolted into life by the goal.
They soon began to cause United all kinds of problems down their right, with Philipp Lahm proving to be tormentor in chief.
Olic and Hamit Altintop failed to combine as the visitors were caught napping, before Demichelis came close to making amends for his earlier mishap when he nodded over after ghosting in at the back post.
United's response was positive, with Rooney drilling into the legs of Daniel van Buyten and Nani dragging narrowly wide after a mazy run into the box.
The Portuguese winger also saw a hopeful cross clip the top of the crossbar, with Hans-Jorg Butt flapping at thin air, before the hosts upped the tempo once more.
Stung
Altintop was unable to haul in a magnificent pass from Mark van Bommel, when in on goal, while Olic somehow failed to get a telling touch to a mishit shot from his Turkish team-mate when presented with a golden opportunity in front of the target.
Danijel Pranjic then stung Edwin van der Sar's fingers from distance, but Bayern's effort in the opening 45 was to be in vain.
In fact, it was United who ended the half much the stronger, with Rooney failing to get the ball out of his feet quick enough to take advantage of some slack defending and Michael Carrick drilling a controlled left-foot volley into the grateful arms of Butt.
Louis van Gaal roused his troops at the interval, though, and Bayern could have been level inside 60 seconds of the re-start.
Ribery, who was kept at arm's length for most of the evening, fed Olic and from a tight angle the Croatian forced Van der Sar into a smart save.
Altintop then saw an effort deflected over and Van Buyten had two bites of the cherry from the resulting corner before United's creaking defence were able to see out the danger.
Thomas Muller then had Van der Sar scrambling, after an ambitious effort from the edge of the box took a wicked ricochet off Nemanja Vidic, but the big Dutchman was equal to the challenge.
The German giants were now knocking on the door every time they ventured forward, with Altintop dancing into the box and lashing straight at Van der Sar and Van Bommel working the United keeper from distance as the hour mark approached.
Ferguson's men were becoming more concerned with protecting their lead than adding to it, with their attacks lacking the kind of venom for which they have become renowned.
Resistance
They were, however, putting up stubborn resistance and Scholes flung himself in front of a Pranjic shot on 68 minutes, helping to lob the ball onto the top of the net.
A few minutes later Bayern threatened again, with a clever back-heel from Muller allowing Olic to drill low towards the near post. Once again Van der Sar was not to be beaten.
The United keeper was picking the ball out of his net, though, on 77 minutes when a tame Ribery free-kick flicked off the heels of the unfortunate Rooney, leaving him stranded.
Rooney was now having one of those nights, with half an opportunity evading him 10 minutes from time when his first touch deserted him at the vital moment.
United then had a great chance to regain their lead seven minutes from time when Vidic rose to meet a corner from substitute Ryan Giggs, but saw his towering header crash back off the crossbar.
Mario Gomez, fresh from the bench, had United rattled as the final whistle approached, but Van der Sar did well again to parry a stinging shot from the powerful frontman.
Then, with just seconds remaining Olic suddenly sprang in on goal, composed himself and rifled home from close range to turn the tie on its head.
Worryingly for United and England, Rooney hobbled off with time running out and must be a major doubt for the return leg at Old Trafford and Saturday's crucial Premier League date with Chelsea.
| Bayern München |
Team Statistics |
Manchester United |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 10 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 8 |
Corners |
2 |
| 17 |
Fouls |
22 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 85.4 |
Passing Success |
73.4 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
20 |
| 72.7 |
Tackles Success |
85 |
| 59.7 |
Possession |
40.3 |
| 54.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.4 |
|
