Arjen Robben spared Franck Ribery's blushes with a spectacular strike to lift Bayern Munich to a 1-0 win over Olympique Lyon in their Champions League semifinal first leg Wednesday. The first-half sending-off of Bayern talisman Ribery looked to have swung the tie Lyon's way but the French side was also reduced to 10 men when Jeremy Toulalan was dismissed and Robben came up with a trademark goal to put the Germans in control. Dutchman Robben, enjoying a superb first season in Germany, smashed in a sweet left-foot shot in the 69th minute which took a slight deflection off the head of teammate Thomas Mueller before flying past keeper Hugo Lloris. Ribery, in the spotlight this week after being questioned by French authorities as a witness in a prostitution investigation, was shown a straight red card for stamping on Lyon forward Lisandro Lopez's ankle in the 37th minute. Bayern was the more aggressive side from the start, threatening with a Bastian Schweinsteiger header in the 14th minute after Lloris misjudged a corner. Ribery, who was constantly double-marked, managed to break free with some nifty footwork but his shot flew wide. Bayern increased the pressure in search of a goal but Ribery stunned the sold-out 66,000 crowd when he lost possession and stamped on Lisandro's ankle as he tried to win the ball back to earn a red card. Bayern showed no interest in playing safe and again went close with a shot by Danijel Pranjic, who will also miss the return leg after being booked. The numerical balance was restored in the 54th minute when Toulalan was sent off for his second yellow card in three minutes and Robben then took center stage. He fired a warning shot on the hour which sailed just wide before launching a solo raid from the right wing, cutting in towards the edge of the box and unleashing an unstoppable shot which wrong-footed Lloris. Inter Milan beat champion Barcelona 3-1 in the first leg of the other semifinal Tuesday. Roma to meet Inter in final AS Roma lined up an Italian Cup final against Inter Milan despite a 1-0 loss to Udinese Wednesday. Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez scored in the 81st minute and the game had a frenetic finish after Roma defender Marco Cassetti picked up his second yellow card in the 84th, reducing Roma to 10 men for the final minutes. Still, the Serie A leader qualified on 2-1 aggregate after winning the opening leg 2-0 with goals from Mirko Vucinic and Philippe Mexes.Roma will face Inter in the May 5 final in Rome. Roma is also battling Inter for the Serie A title, holding a one-point lead with four matches remaining.
