Last-gasp Inter floor Bayern

Holders Inter reached the Champions League quarter-finals after a dramatic 3-2 win at Bayern Munich in their Last 16 second leg clash last night saw them go through on the away-goals rule after it ended 3-3 on aggregate.

Goals by Bayern’s Mario Gomez and Thomas Mueller were cancelled out by Inter’s Samuel Eto’o and Wesley Sneijder before Goran Pandev scored the Italians crucial third in the 88th minute.

“We have played too passively and made too many mistakes at the end,” said a visibly disappointed Gomez.

“We didn’t finish our chances to counter-attack, we could have led 4-1 or 5-1 if we had.

“You can’t do something like that against a team like that without being punished.”

The slender first-leg lead Bayern had worked so hard to earn was cancelled out after just three minutes when the Munich defence unwisely allowed Eto’o a free run at goalkeeper Thomas Kraft.

The 30-year-old Cameroon star needed no second invite to plant his shot firmly in the back of the net for his 32nd goal of the season to level on aggregate.

But Bayern refused to panic, as they have so often done this season, and worked hard to turn their possession into chances.

They made it 1-1 on the night when Dutch winger Arjen Robben fired in a cross which Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar fumbled and the ball went into the path of Germany striker Gomez.

The Bayern star, the scorer of the goal in the first-leg, shielded the ball with his body before flicking it over his head and into the empty goal on 21 minutes.

It was his eighth Champions League goal of the season and his 29th in all competitions.

Then with half an hour gone, Bayern took the lead when Robben threaded a pass through the Inter defence for German international midfielder Mueller to give Bayern a 2-1 lead.

It should have been 3-1 in the 34th minute when French winger Franck Ribery beat his marker and was left to sprint unhindered into the Inter area, but he fired over both Cesar and the crossbar.

And somehow the ball stayed out when Mueller lunged in a goal-mouth scramble with Cesar and hit the post before bouncing back into play leaving a dismayed Mueller to contemplate what might have been.

With half-time approaching Sneijder fired just over the Bayern net from a direct free-kick in a frantic first 45 minutes.

The game’s tempo dropped after the break, but Bayern kept up the pressure as Gomez fired at Cesar with an hour on the clock.

Sneijder then put his side level on the night in the 63rd minute when Eto’o squared the ball for the Dutchman to drill his shot into the back of the Bayern net from the edge of the penalty area.

Pandev scored the winner with two minutes left when Eto’o squared the ball into the path of the Macedonian striker whose shot gave Kraft no chance.

Hernandez double

Manchester United edged into the Champions League quarter-finals as Javier Hernandez’s double-strike clinched a 2-1 win over Marseille.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were far from convincing for long periods at Old Trafford, but the predatory finishing of Mexico striker Hernandez moved United into the last eight for the fifth successive year with a 2-1 aggregate victory.

This was Ferguson’s 100th Champions League victory and few of the previous 99 would have caused him quite so much anxiety as this.

Marseille gave United’s defence too many scares for the Scot’s liking and Wes Brown’s late own goal ensured a tense finish for the Premier League leaders.

Despite the latest in a long line of underwhelming displays, United are closing in on the final at Wembley and remain on course for a treble.

United tore into Marseille at the start and it took only five minutes to open the scoring as a brilliantly constructed move pierced the French defence with surgical precision.

Wayne Rooney played a sumptuous pass out to Ryan Giggs on the left wing and then surged into the penalty area to take the return ball.

Rooney’s instant control gave him time to assess the situation and he drilled over a low cross towards Hernandez, who timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap and tap into the empty net.

Steve Mandanda almost gifted United a second goal as the goalkeeper’s woeful clearance fell to Nani just outside the penalty area, but the winger strangely decided not to shoot and his delayed pass to Rooney allowed Marseille time to regroup and clear.

United’s own frailties at the back kept Marseille in the game and Taye Taiwo was left unmarked to cross towards Souleymane Diawara, who was also unopposed as his mistimed header drifted wide.

Ferguson sent on Antonio Valencia in place of Nani after an hour and the winger’s volley immediately forced Mandanda into action.

Ferguson’s side made Marseille pay for their wayward finishing in the 75th minute.

Valencia played a clever reverse pass to Giggs and his low cross was met with a typically predatory finish by Hernandez.

That should have been the end of the French champions, but Brown briefly gave them hope when he headed Lucho’s corner into his own net in the 82nd minute.

Round of 16 – second legs

Played yesterday

Man. United 2
Hernandez 5, 75;
Marseille 1
Brown 82 og;

(Man. United win 2-1 on aggregate)

B. Munich 2
Gomez 21; Mueller 31
Inter 3
Eto’o 3; Sneijder 63; Pandev 88;

(agg: 3-3; Inter win on away goals)

Today – 20.45
Chelsea vs FC Copenhagen (first leg: 2-0)
Real Madrid vs Olympique Lyon (first leg: 1-1)

Already played
S. Donetsk 3 - Roma 0 (S. Donetsk win 6-2 on aggregate)
Barcelona 3 - Arsenal 1 (Barcelona win 4-3 on aggregate)
Tottenham 0 - Milan 0 (Tottenham win 1-0 on aggregate)
Schalke 04 3 - Valencia 1 (Schalke win 4-2 on aggregate)

Note: The draw for the quarter- and semi-finals will take place at UEFA’s headquarters on Friday.