Bayern snatch late win over defiant Fiorentina
Substitute Miroslav Klose headed an 89th minute goal to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over Fiorentina in their Champions League last 16 first leg tie on Wednesday, their 13th straight victory in all competitions.
Bayern went ahead with an Arjen Robben penalty in first-half stoppage time after a foul on Franck Ribery.
Per Kroldrup levelled for the Italians five minutes after the re-start, turning in the ball from close range after a corner.
Fiorentina had Massimo Gobbi sent off for an apparent elbow in Robben's face in the 73rd minute.
The Italians, already upset at the red card, were furious about the winning goal, claiming that Klose was offside when the ball was headed to him by Ivica Olic after Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey had parried a long-range shot.
Bayern started nervously, committing several blunders in defence. At one point Martin Demichelis gave the ball straight to Marco Marchionni as he tried to start a move from defence while another mix-up led to a furious argument between goalkeeper Joerg Butt and Daniel van Buyten.
Following the goals either side of halftime, the Germans regained control of the game but were repeatedly frustrated.
Robben should have put Bayern back in front but fired wide from 15 metres after being teed up by Thomas Mueller.
Seconds before scoring the winner, Klose had the crowd howling in frustration when he fired over from inside the penalty area.
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PJ Mifsud
Feb 19th 2010, 11:11
It is definitely shameful to allow the Norwegian refereeing trio who were the culprits for the Chelsea vs Barcelona shambles in the Champions League decider last year to be given another chance to give an even worse repeat performance. Chelsea were denied three blatant penalty appeals during the match. No wonder Didier Drogba lost his cool arguing with the referee at the end of the match !!
This Norwegians so-called refereeing team should be banned outrightly by UEFA from arbitrating needle matches. They should be relegated to arbitrate matches between nursery sides in Norway if they are up to that standard.
Gobbi's foul solely merited a yellow card being his first offence. The player surely had no intention injuring his opponent, On the other hand, Klose's vicious sliding tackle on the Fiorentina defender merited a red card.
Klose was two metres offside when he headed his side's second goal. It is mind boggling how the same linesman who judged Gobbi to have committed a serious foul did not see this blatant offside right in front of his eyes! He must seriously need to wear sight glasses.
Fiorentina were shamelessly robbed of a merited draw by these so-called international arbiters.
david vella
Feb 18th 2010, 19:23
The italians have nicknamed the referee Mastrolindo! You know the commercial! Perfect match!! Fiorentina played well and didn't deserve to lose that way! Honestly I believe if they repeat themselves in the home match they shouldn't have any difficulties reaching the next round!
hadrian agius
Feb 18th 2010, 12:51
KLOSE WAS 3 METRES OFFSIDE. WHAT A SHAME THIS REF CONTINUES TO BE CHOSEN BY UEFA FOR IMPORTANT MATCHES. EVERYBODY REMEMBERS THE SCANDALS DURING ITALY-ROMANIA IN EURO 2006 AND LAST YEARS' CHELSEA-BARCELONA IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
LET'S HOPE PLATINI TOOK NOTE OF OVREBO WHILE HE WAS WATCHING THE MATCH FROM THE STANDS!!!