ivica olić capped a fine comeback in added time as bayern recovered from an early setback to claim a narrow advantage in munich.
ivica olić struck in the dying seconds as fc bayern münchen turned the tables on manchester united fc to gain the upper hand in their quarter-final tie.
bayern suffered one of the uefa champions league's most dramatic reversals at the hands of united in the 1999 final, but got a measure of revenge with olić's goal deep into added time. united looked set to maintain their 100% away record in the competition this season after wayne rooney fired home with less than two minutes gone. franck ribéry, though, levelled 13 minutes from time when his free-kick ricocheted off rooney to level before olić seized the initiative for bayern ahead of next wednesday's second leg at old trafford.
louis van gaal had warned it would be difficult to keep rooney quiet and, within 120 seconds, he was proved right. with just eight minutes of competitive football in his legs since early march, martín demichelis's inclusion was a risk. he was initially off the pace, his ill-advised lunge on nani allowing the portuguese international to deliver a free-kick that rooney volleyed home – the striker left unmarked after demichelis slipped.
the home fans' mood was dampened, but bayern strove to revive spirits. sir alex ferguson is a known admirer of ribéry, but it is unlikely the united manager enjoyed the winger's attempts to engineer an equaliser. first his measured ball was wasted when hamit altıntop failed to control and then, after turning gary neville, a ribéry cross allowed altıntop to fire in a cross-cum-shot – olić lunged but was unable to get enough purchase with the united defence flat-footed.
with the lead, united's counterattacking qualities came to the fore, and they almost added to their advantage before half-time. nani rifled wide after a jinking run and following smart build-up from ji-sung park and darren fletcher, only hans-jörg butt's outstretched boot denied rooney a second. without the injured arjen robben, the bayern attack was shorn of its most potent element, but the hosts emerged after the break bent on making light of the in-form dutch international's absence.
olić's forceful run and shot was halted by edwin van der sar, and the goalkeeper then had to fling himself to his right to palm away thomas müller's deflected effort as it arced towards the bottom corner. a mark van bommel piledriver, which stung van der sar's hands, was symptomatic of bayern efforts to give themselves something to cling on to ahead of next wednesday's second leg.
that glimmer of hope would eventually come through ribéry after neville's handball gave away a free-kick within striking distance. the shot was not well struck yet a telling touch off rooney completely wrong-footed van der sar. united remained a threat, and nemanja vidić headed powerfully against the bar, but bayern would not be denied. van der sar brilliantly parried mario gómez's point-blank effort in the final minute, though when patrice evra hesitated, olić stole in to tip the scales in bayern's favour.
