Champions League: Robben wins it for Bayern after Ribery red card

Bayern overcame the dismissal of French playmaker Franck Ribery to beat Olympique Lyon 1-0 with a deflected second-half goal from Arjen Robben in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday.

Robben, enjoying a superb first season in Germany, scored with a left-foot shot from distance on 69 minutes in a bad-tempered clash. His strike took a slight deflection off the head of team-mate Thomas Mueller and beat 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 stepping on Lyon forward Lisandro Lopez's ankle in the 37th minute.

Lyon were also reduced to 10 men nine minutes into the second half after Jeremy Toulalan picked up two bookings in quick succession.

Bayern were the more aggressive side from the start, threatening with a Bastian Schweinsteiger header in the 14th minute after Lloris misjudged a corner kick.

Ribery, who found himself constantly double-marked, managed to break free with some nifty footwork but his shot sailed wide.

But as Bayern upped the pressure in search of a goal, Ribery stunned the sold-out 66,000 crowd when he stamped on Lisandro's ankle and was dismissed.

Bayern, despite being a man down, showed no interest in falling back and 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.

Robben then took command in a flowing, open game. He fired a warning shot on the hour that sailed just wide before launching his trademark solo attack on the right wing, cutting in towards the edge of the box and releasing an unstoppable shot that took a deflection and wrong-footed Lloris.