Arjen Robben dumped 10-man Man Utd out of the Champions League on away goals as Sir Alex Ferguson's Wayne Rooney gamble failed.
Rooney gamble backfires with Bayern through on away goals
Arjen Robben dumped 10-man Manchester United out of the UEFA Champions League on away goals as Sir Alex Ferguson's gamble on Wayne Rooney backfired against Bayern Munich.
The Red Devils looked to be cruising as they swiftly overturned Bayern's 2-1 first leg advantage and roared into a 3-0 lead inside 41 minutes in their quarter-final showdown at Old Trafford.
Ferguson stunned everyone by naming Rooney in his starting XI just eight days after the 34-goal striker left the Allianz Arena on crutches after turning his ankle in the closing moments.
United, perhaps inspired by the England international's presence, started superbly and were two goals to the good inside seven minutes as Darron Gibson and Nani found the back of the net in style.
Rooney appeared to turn his ankle again midway through the half, but when Nani added a third in the 41st minute it looked as though United were on course for a place in the semi-finals.
However, Bayern, who had offered very little in attack, found a goal out of nothing before the break as Ivica Olic held off Michael Carrick's weak challenge to slot beyond Edwin van der Sar from a tight angle.
And the pendulum swung further in favour of the German giants in the 50th minute as Rafael, who had been booked for a petulant kick on Mark van Bommel in an otherwise excellent first half, saw red for pulling back Franck Ribery.
Rooney was clearly struggling and made way for John O'Shea soon after with United forced onto the defensive and into a reshuffle, but they could not hold out against the waves of Bayern attacks.
It took a goal of sublime quality to breach their rearguard, with Robben volleying home from the edge of the area following Ribery's corner from the right with 16 minutes remaining to set up a semi-final showdown with Lyon.
Subterfuge
It was a gut-wrenching climax, that leaves the Premier League without a semi-final representative for the first time since 2003 and United shattered after the biggest week of their season ended in total misery.
It had all started so magnificently too after Ferguson had named Rooney in his starting line-up after all. Such is the subterfuge involved in top-level combat these days, Ferguson's declaration that there was "no chance" of his star striker being involved was just part of a game.
Yet, no matter how many potential line-ups Louis van Gaal had gone through in his mind, it is a fair assumption that Gibson did not feature in any of them.
Clearly the United boss does have faith, and what an inspired choice it proved to be. Barely two minutes had passed when Rafael swept the ball forward to Rooney, whose lay-off was collected by Gibson.
If Hans-Jorg Butt had done his homework, he would have known the Republic of Ireland tends to get his goals from outside the area. His startled look as the ball flashed past him suggested an obvious lack of revision.
It was the start United craved, only it was to get even better when Antonio Valencia, a constant menace down the right, sent over one of a number of dangerous crosses.
Just as Joe Cole had done at the other end on Saturday, Nani got himself to the near post and flicked the ball into the far corner with his heel.
Old Trafford erupted, in precisely the manner Ferguson knew they would when he spoke about the feeling of a ball being sucked into the opponents' goal on those special Old Trafford nights, of which he has had so many.
Bayern were completely bewildered, both by the team they were facing and the whirlwind that had hit them.
Phenomenal
Rafael, Rooney and Gibson combined again, this time to send the youngster through, only for the full-back to suffer an untimely bout of nerves as the goal stared back and he fired wide.
Yet just as the half started in a goal burst, so it ended the same way. Once more Valencia the architect, once more Nani supplied the finish, and the elaborate celebration.
The sense of euphoria lasted two minutes, the time it took for Olic to shrug Carrick aside and find the bottom corner with Bayern's first decent chance.
If Van der Sar had not brilliantly turned away a curling shot from Robben that was heading for the bottom corner, United would actually have reached half-time behind on away goals, so precarious was their advantage.
Amid all the goalmouth incident, another pivotal moment had gone largely unnoticed. Rafael's petulant kick at Van Bommel came back to haunt him four minutes after the restart when he tugged Ribery back.
Rafael's dismissal brought Rooney's involvement to an end as O'Shea was introduced for the first time in five months to shore up the defensive gap and begin a rearguard action that required resistance to almost constant bombardment.
United tried to break and Nani nearly scored his hat-trick from one such raid, but the overwhelming pressure was one-way.
Even then it took a phenomenal goal to defeat the hosts as Robben's perfectly-executed volley flew past Van der Sar into the far corner and United simply did not have the energy to respond.
| Manchester United |
Team Statistics |
Bayern München |
| 3 |
Goals |
2 |
| 3 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 7 |
Corners |
9 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 71.2 |
Passing Success |
81.9 |
| 40 |
Tackles |
23 |
| 72.5 |
Tackles Success |
78.3 |
| 39.3 |
Possession |
60.7 |
| 45.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
54.1 |
|
