Thu Feb 14 17:37:31 2008

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Bayern escapes Aberdeen with draw

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Aberdeen, Scotland (Sports Network) - Bayern Munich came from behind twice to draw Aberdeen, 2-2, and avoid a stunning upset in the first leg of the last 32 UEFA Cup match at Pittodrie Stadium on Thursday.

Bayern midfielder Hamit Altinop missed a penalty kick in the 55th minute but was able to follow his rebound for the tying goal.

Fellow Bundesliga club Hamburg got off to a better start with a 3-1 at Zurich. Benfica, Bolton, Fiorentina and Tottenham also won on Thursday.

Aberdeen famously defeated Bayern 3-2 on its way to the Cup Winners Cup title in 1983 under manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Another memorable result was possible Thursday after England U-19 international Josh Walker put the Dons in the lead in just 24 minutes.

Bayern's Miroslav Klose tied the score in the 29th minute, but another England U-19 player, Sone Aluko, put Aberdeen back in front four minutes before half.

Aberdeen managed just three shots on goal - and scored on two of them - while facing an onslaught from the German giants.

Bayern kept Aberdeen goalie Jamie Langfield busy with 16 shots - eight on goal - but continued a recent trend of being unable to finish its chances.

Aberdeen was able to grab the early lead when Aluko, who had his back to goal, set up Walker and he placed a shot into the bottom left side by Bayern backup goalie Michael Rensing. Goalie Oliver Kahn was one of four starters not in the lineup for Bayern.

Bayern, which had to dig out of an early deficit against Werder on Sunday for a 1-1 draw, did not take long to equalize thanks to Luca Toni and Klose.

Toni, who has six goals in UEFA Cup play, headed a pass to Klose and he scored past Langfield for his fourth goal in the tournament.

The Dons continued to please the home crowd, though, converting another one of their few chances in the 41st minute. Aberdeen's Lee Miller set up Aluko, who sneaked a shot around Bayern defender Christian Lell and past Rensing.

Bayern continued to control the pace of the match, but if not for a penalty in the early stages of the second half for a handball in the box - Bayern had two similar plays not called - it could have left Scotland trailing the series.

Ze Roberto, who scored the equalizer against Werder Bremen, sent a cross into the box that went off the arm of an Aberdeen player.

Altintop was called on to take the penalty and his initial attempt was stopped by Langfield, but the Turkish international buried the rebound to help Bayern escape with the draw.

In addition to Kahn, Bayern was without midfielders Franck Ribery and Mark van Bommel, and defender Willy Sagnol. Backup defender Daniel van Buyten was also injured, but German international Marcel Jansen returned to the lineup.

Hamburg got a big lead thanks to second-half goals from David Jarolim, Ivica Olic and Piotr Trochowski in its 3-1 win at Zurich. Eric Hassli scored in the 88th minute to give Zurich some hope in the second leg.

Benfica was the only one of three teams that joined the UEFA Cup after placing third in the group stage of the Champions League to avoid a loss Thursday with a 1-0 win over Nurnberg. Benfica's Ariza Makukula had the lone goal.

Bolton won its first leg match against Atletico Madrid, 1-0, on a 74th minute goal from El Hadji Diouf. Atletico heads home facing a deficit and without one of its top strikers, Sergio Aguero, who received a red card.

Fiorentina, the only Italian team in the knockout round, picked up a huge away goal at Rosenborg, which dropped out of the Champions League, on Adrian Mutu's goal in the 16th minute of a 1-0 victory.

Tottenham got two huge away goals as Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane scored in the first half of a 2-1 win over Slavia Prague. David Strihavka scored for Slavia, which also dropped out of the Champions League.

All five Champions League teams that opened the UEFA Cup on Wednesday avoided defeat with Marseille, PSV, Sporting Lisbon and Werder Bremen winning. Rangers was the lone team to tie.

The UEFA Cup resumes Feb. 21 with all 16 second-leg matches.