Referee Tom Henning Ovrebo was at the centre of Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Fiorentina.
Van Gaal's men earn win, but notorious official is in the spotlight
Bayern Munich secured a narrow 2-1 first-leg advantage in their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie with Fiorentina, but referee Tom Henning Ovrebo was at the centre of a highly-controversial contest in Germany.
Substitute Miroslav Klose scored the winning goal after Per Kroldrup had cancelled out Arjen Robben's penalty, however, that was only part of the story on a bizarre night at the Allianz Arena as the visitors ended the night with 10 men.
The first half had been largely forgettable as Fiorentina's tactics of doubling-up defenders on Bayern's star man Franck Ribery worked brilliantly until first-half stoppage time when the opening goal came in confusing circumstances.
Mario Gomez put the ball in the back of the net from open play, but Ovrebo, the man at the centre of the row after Chelsea's 2008/09 semi-final loss to Barcelona, had quickly whistled for a foul on Ribery inside the 18-yard area and ruled out the goal.
Louis van Gaal's Bayern were far from impressed and fortunately for them flying Dutch winger Robben kept his cool and sent Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick to give his side a lead at the interval.
However, five minutes into the second half a persistent anxiety among Bayern's defence, was highlighted as Kroldrup, who had been lucky to avoid a red card when giving away the penalty, scored what could yet prove a vital away goal at a corner.
Ovrebo, though, was then back in the spotlight as he showed excellent Fiorentina left-back Massimo Gobbi a straight red card for a slightly raised arm in a challenge with Robben, despite the foul appearing to warrant a booking at the very most.
A furious Fiorentina side were further punished in the 89th minute when Ovrebo and one of his assistants failed to spot that Klose was at least five yards offside when collecting a header from Ivica Olic after the forward had pounced on a rebound.
Given their recent Serie A form and the fact Bayern have won their last 12 games, Fiorentina came into the game as clear underdogs.
Early enterprise
But rather than build a wall in front of their goal, Fiorentina surprised Bayern with their early enterprise, putting the Bundesliga side under a lot of pressure for the first quarter of the game.
Alberto Gilardino put the pressure on a nervous Daniel van Buyten, who tried to shepherd the ball back to Hans-Jorg Butt but was almost caught out by the Fiorentina striker, leaving his goalkeeper no choice but to send the ball out of play.
Gomez had Bayern's only chance of the first half in the 13th minute when he shot straight at Frey from a tight angle.
At the other end, Gilardino beat the offside trap to break free, but he was a bit slow in his progress and slipped inside the penalty area, allowing Holger Badstuber to get back and put the ball behind for a corner.
Cesare Natali should have put the Viola ahead in the 18th minute when he came in around the back to meet Juan Vargas' free-kick, but he lacked the conviction to put the ball into the open goal.
Having weathered the early storm and come to terms with what they were actually up against, Bayern started to attack themselves with Ribery testing Frey with a low shot from 25 yards which was an easy save for his compatriot.
Robben then lifted a neat ball over for Thomas Muller, who touched the ball through Natali's legs before falling to the ground, but he did not even claim a penalty.
Nor did Ribery on the stroke of half-time, but he got one, even though he would have preferred not to.
The Frenchman went to ground in the area under the pressure of Kroldrup, but the ball fell free for Gomez, who stroked it into the goal. However, Ovrebro had already pointed to the spot.
Worst error
Robben stepped up to ensure Bayern still went in at the break ahead, coolly sending Frey the wrong way from the spot.
Kroldrup gained his personal revenge for the penalty decision five minutes into the second half when he brought Fiorentina level.
He found himself in the right place at the right time to tuck the ball in when Vargas met Marco Marchionni's corner with a weak effort.
Bayern raised the tempo again with Robben at the heart of everything, but they could not find a way through the now massed ranks of Fiorentina defenders.
Ovrebro then assisted the home side by showing an inexplicable red card at Gobbi for merely obstructing Robben.
Minutes later, the Norwegian official only showed yellow to Klose when he lunged at Felipe with a dangerous two-footed challenge right under the nose of the linesman.
But the worst error on the part of the officials was still to come.
As the game looked to be heading for a draw, Ovrebro allowed Klose's headed goal in the last minute to stand despite the fact the Germany international was at least two yards offside when he received the ball from Ivica Olic, who had followed up a shot from Robben.
| Bayern Munich |
Team Statistics |
Fiorentina |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 10 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 9 |
Corners |
6 |
| 8 |
Fouls |
27 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
1 |
| 82.8 |
Passing Success |
67.4 |
| 24 |
Tackles |
23 |
| 83.3 |
Tackles Success |
73.9 |
| 65 |
Possession |
35 |
| 57.4 |
Territorial Advantage |
42.6 |
|
