Football: Jancker seals Bayern comeback

CARSTEN JANCKER scored in the last minute to earn Bayern Munich a 3-3 draw after they had twice trailed by two goals in last night's European Cup semi-final first leg in Kiev.

Jancker held off Olexandr Holovko to slip in the equaliser that makes Bayern favourites to reach the final in the return in Germany in two weeks' time.

For periods the match looked to be heading Dynamo's way in front of an 80,000 crowd but Bayern showed their European pedigree, never letting their heads drop.

That was what pleased their coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld, the most. "I think we deserved this result. I take my hat off to my players. They never gave up and, despite twice being two goals down, kept on fighting," he said. "I think now we have a very good chance of going through."

However, Dynamo's veteran coach, Valery Lobanovsky, refused to concede the tie. "Hitzfeld is a great coach and I give him credit for his team's fighting spirit," he said. "But I disagree with him on our chances. I still think it's a 50-50 chance for either team."

Dynamo have never won the European Cup but they beat Bayern to lift the European Super Cup in 1975, when Oleg Blokhin, like Andriy Shevchenko in their current team, was their quick and deadly young spearhead. Initially it seemed that he would prove the wisdom of the counter-attacking tactics that Lobanovsky employed so successfully to steer his side to the last four.

Shevchenko used his pace to give Dynamo the lead after 16 minutes after Bayern had begun to settle and look confident. A through ball from Valentin Belkevich just eluded Markus Babbel and opened up the Bayern defence, putting Shevchenko clear on the left. He had not scored for three matches, but, allowed such time and space, he gave Oliver Kahn no chance.

After the setback of Oleh Luzhny picking up his second booking of the tournament, for a foul on Hasan Salihamidzic, Dynamo pressed forward. Olexandr Khatskevich eluded two half-hearted challenges outside the penalty area, but his shot from 18 yards did not trouble trouble Kahn. Then Khatskevich's cross troubled the Bayern defence before Luzhny tested Kahn with a fierce shot.

It was no surprise when Dynamo stretched their lead shortly before the interval. Again Shevchenko was involved, hitting a free-kick across goal towards the corner of the net. Several players went for the ball but Kakha Kaladze provided the decisive touch.

However, just as the Ukrainian champions thought they had the match under control, Bayern, three times the European champions in the 1970s, pulled a goal back. In first-half injury time, Michael Tarnet scored with a remarkable free-kick from 35 yards that flew past Olexandr Shovkovsky in the Dynamo goal.

Undaunted, Dynamo restored their two-goal advantageonly five minutes after the interval with a smart piece of inventiveness. Vitaly Kosovsky tried to feed a pass into the Bayern penalty area and when the ball rebounded to him off Samuel Kuffour he volleyed it past Kahn.

Shevchenko had another chance, but Kahn smothered the ball as the Ukrainian international tried to shoot, and that save signalled a Bayern revival. Thomas Strunz found Jancker, but Shovkovsky dived at the German's feet. Then Kuffour attempted to atone for his earlier error when he shot from the corner of the penalty area, but Shovkovsky turned the ball for a corner.

Eventually Bayern did find a way through 12 minutes from time, and again it was from a free-kick. Stefan Effenberg took it from the edge of the penalty area and the ball went in off a post. Shevchenko was denied again five minutes from time when Kahn turned away his venomous shot on the turn, but then came Jancker's equaliser.

Dynamo Kiev: Shovkovsky; Luzhny, Holovko, Vashchyuk, Kaladze, Husin, Khatskevich (Kiryukhin, 80), Belkevich, Kosovsky; Shevchenko, Rebrov.

Bayern Munich: Kahn; Matthaus, Babbel, Kuffour, Strunz, Tarnat, Jeremies, Effenberg, Salihamidzic, Jancker (Daei, 90), Scholl (Zickler, 72).

Referee: K Nielsen (Den).