Aberdeen earn creditable draw againt Bayern Munich
Dons draw in Munich
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Thursday, 14, Feb 2008 10:31
Two first-half goals earned Aberdeen a deserved draw against Bayern Munich in their Uefa Cup tie against the German league leaders.
The Dons sent the Pittodrie crowd into raptures by taking the lead against the tournament favourites after just 24 minutes, courtesy of an 18-yard strike from Josh Walker - currently on loan from Middlesbrough.
However, the lead was to be short lived as, short of the attacking skills of Marc van Bommel and Franck Ribery, Munich punted a long ball up field for the towering Luca Toni to set up Miroslav Klose to level the scores.
After numerous chances for both sides, Colin Calderwood's men went in at half-time ahead after Sone Aluko's 25-yard shot beat Michael Rensing, deputising for Oliver Kahn in the German's goal.
Following the interval, however, the visitors hit back from the peanalty spot.
After Alan Maybury handled in the area, Hamit Alintop's stepped up to take a 53rd-minute penalty and although his initial effort was saved the Bayern star slotted home the rebound - cancelling out any chance of a repeat of Aberdeen's famous Cup Winners' Cup victory of 25 years ago.
However, the Scottish side will take confidence in the way they dealt with the late onslaught in the closing minutes to travel to Bavaria for what could be an enthralling second leg.
Bayern's German counterparts Hamburg look clear favourites to go through to the next round after three second-half strikes away at FC Zurich, with the home team only managing to grab a consolation goal in the dying minutes of the game.
Fiorentina also recorded an away victory at Rosenborg, with former Chelsea and Juventus striker Adrian Mutu scoring the only goal of the game.