Arjen Robben produced another moment of magic to fire Bayern Munich to a 1-0 victory over Lyon.
Ribery and Toulalan see red in semi showdown
Arjen Robben produced another moment of magic to fire Bayern Munich a step closer to the UEFA Champions League final with a 1-0 victory over Lyon in the first leg of their semi-final.
The Dutch winger, the hero of Bayern's dramatic away goals victories over Fiorentina and Manchester United, lashed home in the 69th minute of an intriguing encounter in which both sides were reduced to 10 men long before the final whistle.
Franck Ribery, who has been in the headlines for some alleged off-field indiscretions which would make even a number of top Premier League stars blush, was dismissed late in the first half for a heavy challenge on Lisandro.
But Lyon, who offered precious little as an attacking force even when they boasted an additional player on the field, saw Jeremy Toulalan head for an early bath after two yellow cards in quick succession at the start of the second period.
Bastian Schweinsteiger had already headed wide from close range when Ribery had a decent sight of goal with 18 minutes gone as he ran at the retreating Lyon defence and cut inside, only to hit a disappointing shot from the edge of the box.
Ivica Olic then lashed horribly high and wide of the target when well placed inside the area after a long ball into the centre of the French club's defence was nodded down by Robben.
Red card
Claude Puel's men had a sight of goal on the half-hour mark when Miralem Pjanic's corner from the right was flicked out to the edge of the box where Ederson made a sweet contact only to see his shot deflected behind.
And the first dismissal came in the 37th minute when Ribery was issued with an immediate red card by Italian referee Roberto Rosetti after going over the top of the ball and catching Lisandro heavily on the ankle.
The Lyon man was able to continue after initially being stretchered off but was the subject of substantial ire from the Allianz Arena crowd, as was the match official.
Bayern goalkeeper Jorg Butt was called into action shortly before the break when Kim Kallstrom unleashed a thunderbolt from outside the box which the goalkeeper had to dive to his left to fist away.
Hugo Lloris made heavy weather of dealing with Danijel Pranjic's curling effort from outside the box early in the second half with the goalkeeper scrambling to gather the rebound.
Bayern, who were showing more attacking intent despite the numerical disadvantage, had a glorious opportunity to go in front only for Thomas Muller to fluff his lines from 10 yards out following Philipp Lahm's cut-back after surging into the area.
Stunner
And Toulalan then joined Ribery in making an early exit after being booked for a cynical trip on Robben before somewhat harshly seeing red after clashing with Schweinsteiger, with replays showing he made contact with the ball.
Bayern were clearly buoyed and Robben flashed a shot across the face of goal on the hour mark after twisting and turning his way into a yard of space in the Lyon box, before Schweinsteiger rippled the side netting after taking on Cris.
Mario Gomez then wasted a glorious opportunity to give Louis van Gaal's side the lead when he could only head weakly at Lloris after a glorious cross from Robben found him in acres of space at the far post.
And Robben, who dragged Bayern into the last four with his goals, decided to take matters into his own hands as he unleashed another long-range stunner which took a slight flick off Muller before beating Lloris and nestling in the back of the net.
The former Chelsea man came close to making it 2-0 with five minutes to go, bamboozling Cris once again and bringing a flying save out of Lloris, only to see the flag raised for offside against Gomez.
Robben was then infuriated to see his evening brought to a premature end by Van Gaal, making his feelings known as he left the field, only to be accosted by his equally fiery compatriot on the sidelines.
| Bayern München |
Team Statistics |
Lyon |
| 1 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 12 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 9 |
Corners |
3 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
1 |
| 86.1 |
Passing Success |
75.9 |
| 28 |
Tackles |
37 |
| 67.9 |
Tackles Success |
83.8 |
| 67.4 |
Possession |
32.6 |
| 55.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
44.3 |
|
Sky Bet - Champions League 2009/2010 - Bayern Munich to win 5/2 -
