Kyiv Dynamo squanders lead tying Munich 3-3 (04/11/99)

Kyiv Dynamo squanders lead tying Munich 3-3

TORONTO - Kyiv Dynamo squandered 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the first leg of the European Champions League semifinal against München (Munich) Bayern played before a home crowd of 80,000 at the Olympic Stadium on April 7.

Dynamo had dominated the match, but now must swallow a bitter 3-3 tie. At the very last minute of regulation time, Carsten Jancker received a header from Alexander Zickler and bulled his way past Kyiv defender Oleksander Holovko. Jancker turned and poked the ball past the diving Ukrainian goalkeeper Oleksander Shovkovskyi.

Kyiv seemed to be first to have mastered the treacherous surface, rendered very slick by a torrential downpour.

At the 16th minute, a classic counter-attacking Dynamo play: Valiantsin Bialkevich's long pass found striker Andriy Shevchenko wide open; he steadied himself along the left side of the penalty area, then calmly slotted the ball past Munich goalie Oliver Kahn.

At the 43rd minute, a long free kick by Shevchenko found the net, with the German keeper seemingly mesmerized by a succession of Kyivans failing to make contact with the ball, although Kakha Kaladze was later credited with a touch, and thus, the goal.

Injury time in the first half allowed Bayern to get back in the match, thanks to a goal from Michael Tarnat (substituting for the injured French defender Lizarazu), which, in turn, seemed to cuff the Ukrainian goalie.

A solo goal by Vitaliy Kossovskyi at the 53rd minute (resulting from a poor attempted clearance) seemingly put the German side in fatal disarray, down 3-1.

But they recovered, and a powerful blast from Bayern's top-scoring striker Stefan Effenberg from a free kick at the 78th minute, brought Munich to within one goal, setting up the dramatic score by Jancker.

Dynamo now faces the unenviable task of playing Bayern at home on April 14, with the Teutons no doubt convinced they can overcome any deficit. After the game, Kyiv coach Valeriy Lobanovsky was quoted by Reuters as saying: "It's not over. If we were able to score three times here we could do it again in Munich."

The question remains whether that will be enough.

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