Spirited draw gives Aberdeen hope

Aberdeen FC gave a spirited display in a 2-2 home draw with FC Bayern München in their UEFA Cup Round of 32 first leg.

Frenetic contest
In an entertaining encounter, Aberdeen twice took the lead against the Bundesliga leaders only to be pegged back on both occasions. Two 18-year-olds, Josh Walker and Sone Aluko, converted first-half chances for the Scottish side but goals from Miroslav Klose and Hamit Altıntop gave Ottmar Hitzfeld's men the advantage for the second leg in a week's time.

Creating chances
The game started at breakneck speed. Bayern's Luca Toni had the first opening after three minutes but his shot from Christian Lell's pull-back was blocked by Alan Maybury. Lell then let fly from 25 metres, forcing goalkeeper Jamie Langfield to tip wide. However, the Dons were creating opportunities of their own and took the initiative after 24 minutes when Aluko picked up a loose ball and laid it off to fellow Englishman Walker who curled a superb effort beyond Michael Rensing.

Immediate response
Bayern responded immediately with Klose lifting over a close-range attempt from Altıntop's cross. However, the Germany striker made no mistake on 29 minutes as he latched on to Toni's headed flick and buried a half-volley past the on-rushing Langfield. The German team had further half-chances through Klose and Zé Roberto yet Aberdeen re-established the lead four minutes before half-time. Aluko burst on to Lee Miller's delightful flick, beat Lell and volleyed under Rensing.

Equaliser
The away side began the second period with renewed purpose and a bout of pressure was rewarded after 55 minutes when Zé Roberto's cross was handled by Maybury. Altıntop, after seeing his penalty saved by Langfield, converted the rebound to level the scores. Bayern then started to dominate and substitute Lukas Podolski's drive was well saved with 13 minutes remaining. In the last minute, Toni had an opportunity to win the match but Langfield saved at his feet, ensuring parity going into next week's decider.