MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United confounded grim pre-game predictions by drawing 1-1 with Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday, with Bastian Schweinsteiger equalizing for the holders before being sent off. Floundering in the English Premier League, United has delivered better performances in Europe this season and stunned Bayern by taking the lead against the run of play through Nemanja Vidics header in the 58th minute. Bayern had dominated possession but struggled to create a clear-cut chance before Schweinsteiger arrowed a half-volley high into the net in the 67th to give the German side a slight advantage ahead of the second leg in Munich next week. "We score away, so its good," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. "Im happy with the result." Schweinsteiger blotted his performance by picking up a second yellow card in the 90th minute for a foul on Wayne Rooney and will miss the return match along with fellow midfielder Javi Martinez, who will also be suspended for an accumulation of bookings. Guardiola warned that talk of Uniteds demise was premature -- and the man who turned Barcelona into the best team in the world from 2008-12 has proved to be a good judge of football over the past few years. The English champions are languishing in seventh place in the Premier League amid a disastrous first year under new manager David Moyes, but they have an envious European pedigree and didnt buckle under constant pressure from Bayern. Defending stoutly -- with Vidic and right back Phil Jones particularly impressive -- United had 174 passes in the game compared to Bayerns 701 but actually created the better of the chances. Danny Welbeck will rue the moment he was sent clean through in the 40th, capitalizing on Jerome Boatengs defensive mistake, but fluffed a chip into the goalkeepers arms rather than going for a truer strike. Bayern played the prettier football, as expected, but United goalkeeper David de Gea barely had a shot to save before or after Schweinsteigers sweetly struck effort from Mario Mandzukics nod-down. "Tonights performance was more than youd hope for," Moyes said. "Hopefully tonight shows we will go there and go toe to toe with them. "Our best football has been in this competition and we will need to show our best football next week." The nights other quarterfinal first leg also finished 1-1, with Barcelona coming from a goal down to draw at home to Atletico Madrid. With Bayern having become Europes new powerhouse over the past two years and United without its main striker in Robin van Persie, many predicted the home-and-away series would be a blow-out. In the end, Bayern was somewhat fortunate to be leaving Manchester with its record of scoring in every match this season intact. Uniteds ambition was limited -- it had to be, given it hardly saw the ball -- but the teams desire and work rate couldnt be faulted. Moyes fielded a patched-up defence with Patrice Evra suspended and Rafael da Silva a late withdrawal but he got his tactics largely spot on, although United has probably never been dominated in possession at Old Trafford as much as it was in the first half. It was Bayerns attack vs. Uniteds defence, and Uniteds defence will feel it won the battle. "It is not easy when the opponent sets up so deep and closes down space," Munich winger Arjen Robben said. "After they took the lead, we should be happy to take a 1-1 home." There were times when the home fans fell deathly silent, perhaps mesmerized, as Bayerns bubbly midfield splayed the ball around in long periods of possession. But Moyes side kept its shape well, with Vidic delivering his best performance of an otherwise shaky season. He popped up at the other end to score Uniteds goal, too, the Serbian given the freedom of the penalty box to flick a header into the bottom corner from Rooneys left-wing corner. The lead didnt last long, though, as Rafinha sped by Robben on the overlap and crossed deep for substitute Mario Mandzukic, who headed the ball down for Schweinsteiger to sweep a half-volley into the top corner. The midfielder had already been booked for a foul on Michael Carrick when he brought down Rooney with seconds left of normal time. He protested, wagging his finger at Rooney and claiming the striker dived, but Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo had already brandished the yellow card. "I think coming into the tie most people had Bayern had the favourites," Moyes said, "and rightly so -- they are the European champions. But this club is used to big European nights and tonight they showed it." BOSTON -- In just a few minutes, Bostons hitters turned a slow offensive night into an easy victory. Dustin Pedroias two-run double capped a seven-run sixth inning Thursday night that sent the Red Sox to their fourth straight win, 9-4 over the Houston Astros. "We came to life. We were able to combine some base on balls with some base hits," manager John Farrell said. "It seemed like we got a couple of pitches up in the zone from (Scott) Feldman. The first time or two in the order he kept us in check and kept us off balance." Pedroia finished with three hits, Daniel Nava had two doubles and David Ortiz added two singles as the Red Sox improved to 8-0 at Fenway Park against the Astros. Matt Dominguez hit a two-run homer for Houston, which opened a 10-game road trip with its fourth loss in five games. Allen Webster (3-1) gave up four runs -- three earned -- and five hits in six innings for Boston. "I grinded through it and then they took over with the seven runs," the soft-spoken Webster said. "I cant complain at all." Trailing 4-1, the Red Sox chased Feldman (6-9) during their biggest inning of the season. "It just snowballed. He was one pitch away from getting out of it, but they just continued to find holes and continued to keep the line moving," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "Before that he was in complete command of the game and really was commanding both sides of the plate." Pedroias ground-rule double bounced off the chalk on the right-field line and caromed into the stands. Ortiz, Mike Napoli and Will Middlebrooks each had an RBI single before Jackie Bradley Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever Darin Downs that pushed Boston ahead 5-4. Christian Vazquez had a sacrifice fly before Pedroias double. Brock Holt opened the inning with a hustle double and drew a walk as the Red Sox sent 12 batters to the plate. Feldman was charged with seven runs on nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. And he felt he was in trouble before the big inning. "I think it actually started probably before that," hee said.dddddddddddd "It felt like I had turned into a one-pitch guy. I really had command of only one pitch, from like the fourth, fifth, sixth, something like that." The Astros scored single runs in the second and third before Dominguezs homer made it 4-0 in the fourth. Dominguez homered into the Green Monster seats after Jon Singletons leadoff walk. Boston sliced it to 4-1 when Pedroia scored on Yoenis Cespedes double-play grounder. TRAINERS ROOM Astros: OF Alex Presley (strained right oblique) wont play in games and will only get treatment for a couple of days because he had some discomfort during his minor league rehabilitation assignment at Class A Tri-City. Red Sox: Cespedes was back in the lineup after coming out of Wednesdays game with a bruised right hand, but fouled a ball off his shin and left in the ninth. ... Farrell said outfielder Allen Craig, on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left foot, will take batting practice the next few days before being sent on a rehab assignment. UP NEXT LHP Dallas Keuchel (10-8, 3.07 ERA) pitches Friday for the Astros after losing his last start, giving up five runs in six innings at home against Texas. It was his worst start in more than a month. Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz (5-7, 5.98) looks for his second strong start against Houston this season. He struck out 12 in a complete-game victory at Minute Maid Park on July 13. WHAT A THROW Nava nailed Jake Marisnick at the plate with a throw on the fly from medium-deep right field when he was trying to score on Jose Altuves fly ball to end the seventh. NO UPDATE Porter joked that hell be shutting down injury updates on rookie outfielder George Springer (right quadriceps), who had a setback in his rehab and was shut down for two weeks. Springer has been out since July 19. "In 13 days we can talk about him again," Porter said, smiling. NO NEED TO PACK FOR A WHILE The Red Sox opened an 11-game homestand, their longest in more than three years. After four games against Houston, they have four with the Los Angeles Angels and three with Seattle. ' ' '