Bayern freeze out Spartak

Kahn: Pulled off many fine saves

Spartak Moscow 0-3 Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich are on the brink of a place in the Champions League quarter-finals after a hard-fought victory over battling Spartak Moscow.

Mehmet Scholl and keeper Oliver Kahn were the heroes of a bitterly cold Russian night.

Scholl scored an early away goal to give his side the lead and Kahn pulled of save after save to preserve it, until the international midfielder sealed the tie from the spot with 15 minutes to go.

He was replaced by substitute Paulo Sérgio, who added a third just before time to make the victory appear far more comfortable than it was.

Elber: Made the first goal for Scholl

The Russians had not played for three months following their winter break and they were slow out of the blocks in temperatures down to -10 degrees

Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said his players would wear '"warm underwear, hats, woolly gloves, liver protectors and Vaseline" to keep out the cold and they certainly had a hotter start.

They made the breakthrough in the 17th minute when Giovane Elber - who scored the only goal in Bayern's win over Spartak ten days ago - fed a pinpoint pass through to Scholl.

He side-footed his shot past a helpless Alexandre Filimonov.

With the snow falling and temperatures dropping, the flurry sparked Spartak into life.

Kahn, with 31 caps to match his 31 years, kept the Germans ahead with a string of stunning saves on the icy Luzhniki Stadium turf.

Salihamidzic won a late penalty

He made a fine double block, tipping Titov's header away, before blocking Maksym Kalynychenko's shot as Spartak piled on the pressure.

Six players were booked and a total of 39 fouls were committed as the Muscovities fought tenaciously, but Kahn kept them at bay.

With the clock ticking down to half-time, he produced two crucial blocks, somehow keeping out a vicious 10-yard shot from Titov and then blocking Kalynychenko's goalbound drive from five yards.

Spartak might have had a penalty in the 56th minute after Irismetrov and Sagnol clashed in the area but Spanish referee Antonio Jesus Lopez Nieto waved away appeals.

Another wasted chance, Kalynychenko blasting wide from six yards, saw coach Oleg Romantsev bring on top scorer Marcao in an attempt to find the equaliser.

But minutes later the tie was sealed when the referee awarded a penalty after Hasan Salihamidzic was brought down in the box.

Scholl made no mistake with the spot-kick, blasting it high into the roof of the net.

Sérgio wrapped up the win for Bayern with a fine angled header from Stefan Effenberg's floated free kick in the 87th minute.

Bayern are now top of Group C with 10 points, five points clear of Arsenal who could only manage a 1-1 draw with Lyon.

The French side are in third place with four points and Spartak are bottom of the group with three.

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Teams:
Spartak Moscow: Filimonov, Tchuisse, Ananko, Baranov, Bulatov, Titov, Kalynychenko, Parfenov, Robson, Mitreski, Irismetov. Subs: Smetanin, Khizaneishvili, Marcao, Bezrodny, Pisarev, Bougakov.

Bayern Munich: Kahn, Sagnol, Lizarazu, Kuffour, Andersson, Scholl, Elber, Effenberg, Fink, Salihamidzic, Linke. Subs: Wessels, Sergio, Tarnat, Jancker, Hargreaves, Di Salvo, Kling.

Referee: Antonio Jesus Lopez Nieto (Malaga)

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Teams:
Spartak Moscow: Filimonov, Tchuisse, Ananko, Baranov, Bulatov, Titov, Kalynychenko, Parfenov, Robson, Mitreski, Irismetov. Subs: Smetanin, Khizaneishvili, Marcao, Bezrodny, Pisarev, Bougakov.

Bayern Munich: Kahn, Sagnol, Lizarazu, Kuffour, Andersson, Scholl, Elber, Effenberg, Fink, Salihamidzic, Linke. Subs: Wessels, Sergio, Tarnat, Jancker, Hargreaves, Di Salvo, Kling.

Referee: Antonio Jesus Lopez Nieto (Malaga)