United would start as I predicted yesterday (See Rooney and Ferdinand fit for Champions League) and Bayern with one of their star player, Robben. Everything seemed to be going Man U’s way.

United would get a dream start. Rooney would shake off Zorro (Demichelis) from a Nani set piece to put United up 1-0 after only two minutes. Rooney scored his 34th goal this season and 5th in the Champions League.

United would continue to press, and in the 17th minute Nani looked like he was going to make it 2-0 after receiving a pass back from Fletcher, he split two Bayern defenders and was infront of goal just to the right of the PK spot but the strike would go wide as he hooked it a little too much with his left foot.

Van der Sar was in great form, helping hold the 1-0 lead for much of the game. Bayern kept knocking with the help of Ribery, who was the player of the game in my opinion. Ribery had a decent effort from distance in the 20th minute and again in the 28th minute with a cross.

Rooney would let a chance go 5 minutes before the half, after a brilliant cross from Fletcher. He received the ball in the box with plenty of time and decided to take all the time, and was denied by Butt.

United would go into the half with a 1-0 advantage

It was all Bayern in the second half. Van der Sar denied at least 6 great chances to equalize. First, Ribery played a great through ball for Olic, but Van der Sar pushed it wide. Muller would hit a ball that deflected off of Vidic and forced Van der Sar to make another great save.

Just before the hour mark, Altintop would weave his way through traffic and hit one from point blank directly at Van der Sar, who came up with yet another brilliant save.

Then in the 76th minute, Uniteds most experienced player would commit a rookie mistake by blatantly handling the ball just outside the eighteen. Allowing the French winger a chance which he would not waste. With the help of Rooney and a little luck, Ribery was able to put it past Van der Sar.

In injury time United would receive two catastrophic blows almost simultaneously. First, Rooney would go down injured with what looked to be a sprained ankle. Then, Olic would pick pocket a very naive Evra, who until that point had a brilliant game, inside the box and position himself right in front of goal with no pressure and put the second goal in for Bayern. Making life very difficult for United, both in the Champions League and in the Premier League.

Maybe Sir Alex got it wrong with the subs. He should have kept Park on, instead have taken Nani off for Valencia, and left Berbatov on the bench. Put someone in who wants to play, not a lazy and lanky striker in as a winger.

Tags: , , ,