They did nothing wrong, really. They scored a deserved, gutsy goal. They defended, for the most part, like the Manchester United of old.
They had the best chances of the game and an early goal cruelly disallowed. It was not enough.
Bayern Munich left with a vital away goal and will be odds on to progress from here, even without the suspended Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was sent off late on for a second yellow card offence.
A goalless draw in the Allianz Arena will be enough for them next week and it is not often that Pep Guardiola's side have to rely on such slender margins.
For United this was still a triumph, of sorts. The club may be worth a billion dollars to their owners in America but they were resolutely the underdogs here.
On target: Bastian Schweinsteiger finishes a fine Bayern Munich move to score the night's equalising goal
Heavens above: David de Gea looks toward the skies after conceding in the second half
Match facts
Manchester United: De Gea, Jones, Ferdinand, Vidic, Buttner (Young 74), Valencia, Carrick, Fellaini, Giggs (Kagawa 46),Rooney, Welbeck (Hernandez 84).
Subs Not Used: Lindegaard, Nani, Fletcher, Januzaj.
Booked: Valencia. Goals: Vidic 58.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Rafinha, Javi Martinez, Boateng, Alaba, Robben, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Ribery, Kroos (Gotze 74), Muller (Mandzukic 63).
Subs Not Used: Starke, Van Buyten, Shaqiri, Pizarro, Hojbjerg.
Sent Off: Schweinsteiger (90).
Booked: Schweinsteiger,Mandzukic,Javi Martinez.
Goals: Schweinsteiger 67.
Att: 73,000
Ref: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain).
They could even be backed in their own ground at a price of 6-1. For Manchester United at Old Trafford, it was unheard of: even their most devoted supporters were watching this one through their fingers.
And yet when Nemanja Vidic headed United into the lead after 58 minutes, the roar around Old Trafford was one of defiance - and confidence. United made Munich look vulnerable.
On chances they should have won - and Vidic's goal summed up everything that was good, and David Moyes will hope inspirational, about this performance.
The corner came from Wayne Rooney on the left. It was outswinging and behind his captain yet somehow, Vidic got there. He strained every sinew, certainly every neck muscle, and somehow diverted the ball into the corner of Manuel Neuer's net.
It encapsulated United's raw resistance and also Moyes' decision-making in opting not to take the captaincy away from the Serbian when he announced his switch to Inter Milan at the end of the season.
Net gains: Nemanja Vidic angles his header towards the Bayern Munich goal and past Manuel Neuer
Head of the pack: Vidic celebrates with Phil Jones after netting the first goal of the night at Old Trafford
Time to celebrate: The Old Trafford crowd revel in Vidic's opening goal in their tie against Bayern Munich
Sadly, it did not last. Less than 10
minutes later, Munich were level. Arjen Robben found Raffinha on the
right and his cross was headed down by substitute Mario Mandzukic.
In came Schweinsteiger, arriving late unscrutinised by Marouane Fellaini, to fire into the roof of the net.
A draw, then but it almost felt like victory by the time Schweinsteiger had gone for a second bookable offence. Most strange.
At times the numbers become truly terrifying against a Guardiola side.
Midway through the first half, Ryan Giggs had made five passes to 38 by
Toni Kroos. Soon after Munich's share of the possession hit 80 per cent.
'And how many goals?' asked a German colleague as Englishmen marvelled
at the figures. He had a point. Stay in the tie would have been Moyes's
mantra here.
Late tackle: Bastian Schweinsteiger slides in on Wayne Rooney in the closing stages of the first-leg tie
End of the road: The Germany international will miss the second leg after he is sent off late in the game
Wagging his finger: Schweinsteiger gesticulates to Rooney as the referee reaches of his pocket
Going over: Rooney falls following the challenge from the Bayern Munich midfielder who will miss the second leg
Are you sure, ref? Pep Guardiola queries the decision to send Schweinsteiger off who heads for an early bath
It was the mistake made by Arsenal in the previous round. They were as good as out after the first leg against Bayern Munich; the same with Manchester City and Barcelona. This was a United team set up not to lose, or at the very least not to get whupped.
They played Munich like no United team in Europe before; they played
them as Chelsea would, maybe even more conservatively than that.
Yet going in at half-time with the scores tied, Moyes would have regarded this as a grand success - for all sorts of reasons.
The
clean sheet was only stage one. More hearteningly, United also had the
two best chances of the half, one a harshly disallowed goal, the other a
finish that may return to haunt Danny Welbeck.
Against
all expectations, United should have been on the verge of putting the
champions out. Maybe their first chance was just too early for Spanish
referee Carlos Velasco Carballo.
Disallowed: Danny Welbeck's strike was ruled out after the United forward committed a foul in the build-up
Decision: Welbeck was adjudged to have fouled Javi Martinez with a high foot moments before his strike
Head-to-head: Franck Ribery squares up to Marouane Fellaini as the first-leg clash threatens to boil over
He
wasn't expecting to make judgment calls in the Munich penalty area
after three minutes. It seemed to catch him entirely by surprise that
Welbeck was letting the ball bounce over the head of Javi Martinez and
collecting it on the other side. Nose high on the replay, but not in any
way that endangered the Munich man. Carballo blew, though, and the
opposition had stopped when Welbeck finished the chance smartly past
Manuel Neuer in the German side's goal. Not that he could have done a
great deal about it either way. In the Premier League, though? One nil to Manchester United, no doubt about it.
The
second chance, however, ended in a mess entirely of Welbeck's making.
Put through by a pass from Rooney, he left Jerome Boateng in a heap on
the floor and looked up to be faced with a wonderfully clear home
straight, with only Neuer and an inviting target at the end of it.
Welbeck sped on but his final decision was poor and could be enormously
costly. He attempted a dink, a little squirt of a chip that was patted
out of the air by Neuer at the perfect, and easiest, height for a
goalkeeper.
Moment of madness? Welbeck attempts to chip Manuel Neuer in the first half at Old Trafford
Perfect moment: The England international tried a delicate chip against the Munich goalkeeper
Those who
still doubt Welbeck as an England international will be quoting this
passage of play in bar-room debates in the months building up to Brazil.
A truly great striker buries this. Had the passer and receiver been
reversed, United would have led.
Against
inferior opposition another United chance comes along in a minute; not
against Munich. It was starvation rations for their midfield throughout
this first half, United frantically regrouping as Munich passed and
passed.
Tough tackle: Anotnio Valencia was booked for his first-half challenege on Bayern Munich's Philipp Lahm
Yellow peril: Lahm holds his face as Valencia receives a booking from referee Carlos Velasco Carballo
Picture that: David Moyes poses with a Manchester United supporter prior to the European clash at Old Trafford
Good to see you: Pep Guardiola and David Moyes shake hands ahead of the last-eight tie
In the stands: Sir Alex Ferguson was among the interested spectators at Old Trafford on Tuesday evening
Yet chances
were equally thin on the ground at the other end. When they came, most
were through Arjen Robben, who predictably was a handful for United
understudy left back Alexander Buttner.
Robben,
left footed playing on the right, was always going to be a threat
cutting inside and so it proved. In the eighth minute he found his
range, curling a shot just wide, and in the 31st he forced Munich's best
chance of the half, a lovely carbon copy of a shot, this time on
target, requiring an excellent one-handed save by goalkeeper David de
Gea.
Robben was
involved in Munich's best passing move, too, setting up Franck Ribery,
whose cross was clipped just behind Thomas Muller, unable to get his
body into the right position on the volley; a rare technical aberration
from the masters.
Guardiola did not look best pleased. Moyes continued to encourage his plucky billion dollar underdogs.
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