Robben wonder strike sends Manchester United crashing out of Europe
It was a bullet to the heart of Manchester United. A sumptuous left-footed volley from the former Chelsea and Real Madrid star, Arjen Robben, which arrowed into the bottom-left corner of Edwin van der Sar’s net and sent Bayern Munich through to the semi-finals of the Champions League, at the expense of the English champions.
It was a goal fit to win any match at any level; but the Red Devils will rue allowing such a clear-cut opportunity to book their place in the semi-finals for the fourth season running, to slip through their fingers.
Two early strikes from Darron Gibson and Nani sent the Old Trafford crowd into raptures. Even the most optimistic of supporters couldn’t have imagined such a spectacular start to this quarter-final. But perhaps that was part of the problem.
Having started the match in such emphatic fashion, it appeared that Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were poised to bulldoze their way through this match – just as they’d done against Roma almost three years ago to the day.
Those inside the stadium had already been handed a shock before the match had even kicked off when it was announced that Wayne Rooney would start. “No chance,” was Ferguson’s prognosis in the build-up to the return leg. The Manchester United boss’ mind games would so nearly pay off.
Rooney played his part in both goals and showed no ill-effects of the minor ligament damage which kept him out of last Saturday’s Premier League match against Chelsea. However, the Bayern Munich players seemed intent on making it a difficult night for the England striker; and on the half-hour mark, following a couple of niggly challenges, the Manchester United No. 10 was clearly in discomfort.
The hosts continued to exert their dominance, though, and Rooney was determined to play on through the pain barrier. One moment of immaturity from arguably the first-half’s outstanding performer, Rafael, earned him a needless yellow card; and this would go on to have a crucial bearing on the outcome of the match.
Regardless, United were flying, and five minutes before the break they advanced into a seemingly unassailable lead. The brilliant Nani, who was enjoying his most instrumental display since arriving at the club, smashed in his second of the night after superb work from the tireless Antonio Valencia.
The Portuguese winger celebrated with his customary brand of gymnastics, and the match, with the scoreline standing at 3-0, seemed as good as over at this point.
If Ferguson was intending to go easy on his players during the half-time interval, then Bayern striker Ivica Olić was about to change that – as well as the whole complexion of the match itself.
The notion that teams are never more vulnerable to concede than when they’ve just scored rang true in last night’s fixture. Olić, who netted the winner in the dying seconds at the Allianz Arena last week, caught the United defence napping once again and fired the ball past Van der Sar from the tightest of angles just a minute after the hosts had extended their deficit.
With the aggregate score at 4-3, Bayern had a clear target in sight: one more goal without conceding would see them into the semi-finals for the first time since 2001.
If Olić’s goal before the break was the decisive moment of the match, then Rafael’s second booking five minutes into the second half wasn’t too far behind. A tussle with Bayern’s French star, Franck Ribéry, prompted the visitors’ players to hound referee Nicola Rizzoli and demand that action was taken.
It was, and Manchester United were subsequently reduced to 10 men with 40 minutes left to play.
During one particular post-match interview, Ferguson blasted the Bundesliga side for the manner in which they grouped around the referee in an effort to see the young Brazilian brought to justice. “Typical Germans” was the knee-jerk reaction from the United boss after the final whistle - but you could understand his frustration. As they say, though, people in glass houses...
With the pressure firmly mounting on the hosts’ depleted defence, half an hour still left on the clock and Rooney off the pitch, it looked increasingly inevitable that Bayern would find a way through the parked bus in front of the Stretford End goal.
United stood firm, and even had a couple of chances of their own; but struggled to retain possession or get a breather from the Bayern siege.
With 15 minutes left on the clock, Louis Van Gaal’s side finally found the breakthrough they so desperately craved courtesy of a moment of individual brilliance from Robben. David Beckham and Paul Scholes famously perfected the move at Valley Parade in 2000, but this was a world-class move between two of the modern day stars, Ribéry and Robben.
After hitting a perfect volley into the bottom corner, the Dutchman wheeled away down the touchline safe in the knowledge that the job was almost done.
Ferguson threw on the out-of-favour Dimitar Berbatov in a last-ditch attempt to salvage something from the tie, but the damage was already done, and United crashed out of Europe having already placed one foot in the semis.
After almost a decade in the shadows, Bayern Munich are back, and now have a tremendous chance of advancing to their eighth European Cup Final.
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