Cristiano Ronaldo scored the decisive goal as Real Madrid controversially came from behind to win 2-1 at Manchester United on Tuesday and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
In a breathless game, Nani forced Sergio Ramos to put through his own goal in the 48th minute to give United a 2-1 aggregate lead in the round-of-16 tie, only for the Portuguese winger to then be sent off for a foul on Alvaro Arbeloa.
Real Madrid immediately seized the initiative, equalizing through substitute Luka Modric in the 66th minute and then earning victory through United old boy Ronaldo on his return to Old Trafford.
Photo: AFP
Madrid manager Jose Mourinho conceded his side had been fortunate to go through, telling ITV: “Independent of the [Nani] decision, the best team lost. We didn’t deserve to win, but football is like this.”
The Spanish champions can now dream of a 10th European title after reinvigorating their season in recent weeks, but United’s defeat meant that Ryan Giggs’ 1,000th appearance in senior soccer ended in disappointment.
United assistant manager Mike Phelan attended the post-game press conference in place of manager Alex Ferguson, who he said had been left “very distraught” by Nani’s dismissal.
Photo: EPA
“To play Real Madrid on such a magnificent occasion, with Ryan Giggs reaching 1,000 games and a massive audience around the world, everyone now will be sitting there wondering what happened,” Phelan said. “It was a great performance marred by the wrong decision.”
Ferguson had sprung a major surprise by naming Wayne Rooney on the substitutes’ bench, but Giggs was included in the starting 11 as he became only the third British outfield player to play in 1,000 games.
A wave of applause for Ronaldo rippled around the ground at kickoff and the Real Madrid No. 7 unexpectedly found himself in direct opposition to Giggs, who started the match in an unfamiliar role on the right flank.
Giggs roused the home fans with a determined run down the wing in the 20th minute and from the corner he won United came within a hair’s breadth of taking the lead.
Nemanja Vidic met Giggs’ inswinging corner with a typically emphatic header that came back off the right-hand post and goalkeeper Diego Lopez reacted well to smother Danny Welbeck’s instinctive follow-up.
Madrid then enjoyed a brief spell in the ascendancy, with Rio Ferdinand blocking from Ronaldo and goalkeeper David de Gea thwarting Gonzalo Higuain, before Ramos had a goal ruled out for a foul on Robin van Persie.
The action soon swang the other way, though, with Lopez doing brilliantly to divert a shot from Welbeck over the bar after he had allowed a stinging effort from Van Persie to get away from him.
Despite shading the first half in terms of opportunities, United had nothing to show for their efforts, but that changed within three minutes of the second period.
After Welbeck and Van Persie had both seen shots blocked, Nani picked up the ball wide on the left and played a low cross into the Madrid six-yard box that Ramos inadvertently poked into his own net.
The Portuguese celebrated the goal as if he had scored it himself, but moments later his night was over.
In attempting to control a high ball, he caught Arbeloa in the chest with his studs and was shown a straight red card by referee Cuneyt Cakir, much to Ferguson’s evident displeasure.
United’s manager came to the touchline to rouse the home support, but Madrid had the momentum and Rafael da Silva had to bravely clear a Higuain header from below his own crossbar.
Van Persie worked Lopez with a low shot, but Madrid were quickly back on the attack and in the 66th minute they leveled.
Mourinho had reacted to Nani’s dismissal by introducing Modric in place of Arbeloa and the Croatian had an immediate impact, darting into space and arrowing a superb long-range shot past De Gea via the right-hand upright.
The turnaround was complete three minutes later and with poetic inevitability, it was Ronaldo who put Madrid ahead, touching in Higuain’s low cross-shot and then pointedly apologizing to the fans behind De Gea’s goal.
Ferguson turned to Rooney and United went for broke, but Lopez saved from Michael Carrick and Van Persie in quick succession, before Rooney volleyed over.
Madrid substitute Kaka hit the post, before Lopez produced another stunning stop from Vidic to crown a fine individual display.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS