Excellent Braga unlucky not to claim Bayern Munich scalp

Sporting Braga 1-1 Bayern Munich

Braga produced an excellent display of football last night to more than match Bayern Munich and earn a 1-1 in their Uefa Cup Group F encounter.

Despite dominating their illustrious opponents and creating the best chances throughout the match, the hosts fell behind to a Klose goal shortly after half time, but Linz (pictured) equalised to earn the Arsenalistas an important point.

If anyone expected Braga to be overawed by the size of their task as they kicked off against the Bavarians, they were soon made to change their opinion. From the start Manuel Machado’s team adopted a similar attacking attitude to their last home match, which saw them sweep to a 3-0 victory over Sporting.

The excellent Joao Pereira and Wender especially caused the German rearguard problems all night, with Linz once again proving he is a striker of the highest order.

Midway through the first half a Frechaut throw-in found its way to Linz who knocked the ball past Khan into the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for a dubious foul called against Wender in the build-up.

Brilliant Khan save

On 39 minutes a flowing move set up Jorginho with a good goalscoring chance, and only a wonderful diving save from Khan kept the ball out. On the stroke of half time the former Germany goalkeeper was again called upon to make a sharp stop to turn Wender’s shot away for a corner.

Bayern were obviously rattled, and Khan was brandished with a yellow card after clashing with Linz as Braga continued to pour forward.

Out of the blue the visitors took the lead shortly after the interval. After great work by Luca Toni, some poor marking allowed Klose to knock the ball into the net from the Italian international’s cross.

Manuel Machado brought on Joao Pinto and Jailson to further boost the Braga attack, and was rewarded in the 66th minute with the equaliser. Wender found Linz just inside the box and the Austrian expertly twisted past his marker before coolly sliding the ball past Khan.

The equaliser set up an exciting last 25 minutes, with both teams searching for the winner. The best chance fell to Braga three minutes from the final whistle, as Jailson found himself with space inside the box, only to hit his powerful drive straight at Khan.

Braga next travel to Greece to face Aris next Thursday, where a win would set them up nicely for progress to the knockout stage of the competition.

Braga:
Paulo Santos, Joao Pereira, Paulo Jorge, Rodriguez, Frechaut, Stelvio Cruz (Jailson, 57), Roberto Brum, Jorginho, Vandinho (Joao Pinto, 51), Wender (Andres Madrid, 69), Linz
Yellow Cards: Robert Brum, Linz, Stelvio Cruz, Andres Madrid

Bayern Munich:
Khan, Lell, Lucio, Demichelis, Lahm, Altintop (Sosa, 80), Van Bommel, Ze Roberto, Ribery (Sagnol, 89), Luca Toni, Klose
Yellow Cards: Khan, Lell, Luca Toni

Goals:
[0-1] Klose, 47
[1-1] Linz, 66