UEFA Women’s Champions League: Bayern prevail at Old Trafford | OneFootball

Bayern Munich held a slender advantage over Manchester United with a 3-2 win at Old Trafford in the first-leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie. The hosts responded to Harder’s well-taken goals twice before Tanikawa won it for Bayern with a late strike.

Bayern had a dream start as they opened the scoring inside the first 90 seconds. Pernille Harder gets first to Arianna Caruso’s long pass ahead of Manchester United’s captain Maya Le Tissier before slotting home with a clinical finish.

The 33-year-old Dane spoke about her childhood memories as a Manchester United fan ahead of the game, but there was no room for sentiment once she entered the iconic Old Trafford. The experienced striker netted braces in back-to-back Frauen-Bundesliga games before the return of Champions League football.

Former Bayern Munich defensive midfielder Julia Zigiotti Olme had the first two chances for the Champions League debutants. At the midpoint of the half, another ex-Bayern player created the equalizing goal for the hosts.

Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir was penalized for handball from Lea Schüller’s cross, and Le Tissier leveled the tie from the resulting penalty-kick. The German international joined Manchester United from the defending Frauen-Bundesliga champions in the January transfer market.

The second-half lacked clear-cut chances for a long spell, with only half-chances for Harder and Linda Dallmann to report until the former scored a brace for the third game running. Fresh from her Asian Cup triumph with Japan, substitute Tanikawa provided a similar assist to the one by Caruso in the first-half.

Arsenal’s Alessio Russo is the only player to score more goals than Harder in this season’s Champions League. However, Manchester United responded within five minutes as Hanna Lundkvist headed home from a corner-kick by fellow defender Le Tissier.

In the 84th minute, Bayern took the lead for the third time. Tanikawa, who has scored twice in the league phase, strikes a lovely curling effort to swing the tie in the direction of the German giants. José Bordalás’ side finally maintained their slender lead ahead of the return fixture in front of their fans.

The two teams will meet again at the Allianz Arena on April 1st. On Saturday, Bayern will face Nürnberg in the Frauen-Bundesliga, while Marc Skinner’s side also have a derby affair against WSL leaders Manchester City.