Amiril MuhaiminThe striker left it to the last kick of the game to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over the Red Devils.
Fuel was added to the fire for Manchester United as their talisman, Wayne Rooney limped off the field when he landed awkwardly after Bayern Munich scored the winner.
Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United the perfect start by converting Nani’s cross at the first minute of the game.
Rooney ran free of his marker, Demichelis, who slipped at the most vital moment, as the masked defender can only watch from the ground when the striker side footed the ball into the top of the net.
The provider almost became a goal scorer in the 17th minute after cutting inside from the right but he saw his left footed grounded shot just wide off the post.
Nani proved to be a menace again for the home side for the as his unintended cross skimmed the surface of the crossbar.
The silky Portugese has come under scrutiny with his inconsistent performance in big games this season. It looks like he has stepped up to the occasion this time.
Olic then spurned a glorious chance when Bayern Munich were finally able to spring their first, decent attack. A poor punch from Edwin Van Der Sar landed at the feet of Altintop, who then miskicked the ball only for Olic to see it wide of the Man United post.
Manchester United failed to double their lead after some decent built-up play from dynamic midfielder Darren Fletcher. His delivery failed to be converted when Rooney directed his shot straight into the Bayern Munich goalkeeper, Hans-Joerg Butt.
It was indeed going to be a game of two halves. Manchester United was simply not performing up to expectations for the season.
Having gone into the game on the trot of 6 consecutive wins, they were incredibly poor in the second half as they are second to every 50-50 ball and kept giving the ball away too consistently.
Bayern came right out of the blocks in the second half and almost scored on the 46th minute as Ribery accelerated with the ball on the left flank before unleashing a low-driven shot that was saved by the Big Dutchman.
The team was on the ascendancy as Altintop tormented and toyed with the Manchester United defense before unleashing a powerful shot only to be denied by Van Der Sar again.
Sir Alex Ferguson decided to replace the below par performers Carrick and Park Ji –Sung with Valencia and Berbatov as he decided to adopt a more balanced approach to the game.
Questions raised during the pre-match conference whether Bayern Munich will be lacking in firepower upfront as their star winger was injured were soon quelled when they equalized in the 77th minute.
Skipper Gary Neville conceded a cheap free kick by handling the ball just outside the penalty box.
Ribery duly obliged to the opportunity presented and scored from the resulting free kick when his attempt on goal was deflected in.
Sir Alex Ferguson then threw in Ryan Giggs. His first contribution almost resulted in a goal as his corner found Vidic who powered his header right onto the crossbar.
Manchester United suffered a near scare when Gomez beat Vidic in the 90th minute only to see his effort parried over by Van Der Sar.
With both sides battling to grab the decisive winner, it was Olic who provided the goods. Manchester United seemed lethargic and lost all their concentration in the 91st minute as the striker stole the ball from Evra before skipping past 3 Manchester United defenders
Bayern Munich the now has the advantage over Manchester United before their clash next week.
Not only that, Wayne Rooney might face a lengthy spell on the sideline, as the injury seemed severe when he landed on his right ankle. The striker will miss the 2 crucial games against Chelsea and the return leg at Old Trafford.
However, the tie of the round has not been concluded yet according to Sir Alex Ferguson.
“We will be much better, no doubt about that, and hopefully we can recover,” he said during the post match with Skysports.
Next week promises to be an interesting week for Manchester United. Check back on The UrbanWire to see if they can recover from this defeat and exact revenge on Chelsea on Saturday.