Bayern Munich hold on for nervy win over Celtic in pulsating first leg

Daizen Maeda’s late goal gave Celtic a brief lifeline heading into Tuesday’s return leg with Bayern Munich in the Champions League play-off.

Michael Olise and Harry Kane both scored as Bayern Munich survived late pressure from Celtic for a 2-1 victory in their Champions League play-off first leg on Wednesday.

Olise rifled home a ferocious shot on the stroke of half-time to put the Bundesliga side in front, though Nicolas Kuhn had earlier seen a second-minute strike ruled out for offside against Adam Idah.

Bayern passed up a host of chances in the first half, but Kane doubled the lead with a 49th-minute volley at the far post from Joshua Kimmich’s corner delivery at Celtic Park.

Celtic wanted a penalty shortly after Kane’s well-taken strike, though the referee stuck with his on-field call after Dayot Upamecano’s challenge on home midfielder Arne Engels.

The hosts eventually cut the deficit in the 79th minute thanks to Daizen Maeda’s close-range header to inject late drama into the match.

Bayern defended well as Celtic poured forward but still needed a fine save from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to deny Alistair Johnson in stoppage time.

A narrow victory leaves Vincent Kompany’s side in control ahead of Tuesday’s return leg in Munich to decide a place in the round of 16.

It hardly comes as a surprise when Kane scores, though this was perhaps more expected than most.

The England captain has now scored 19 goals against Kasper Schmeichel in his career, five more than he has scored against any other goalkeeper.

His second-half finish also moved Kane onto 46 UEFA Champions League goal involvements (36 goals, 10 assists) – David Beckham (16 goals, 36 assists) and Wayne Rooney (30 goals, 17 assists) are the only Englishmen with more in the competition’s history.

Yet there was still, at least, hope for Brendan Rodgers’ side as Maeda became the first Celtic player to score four goals in a single Champions League campaign.