Ronaldo's Last-Minute Goal Lifts Real Madrid Past Man City
Fitzgerald Cecilio
Madrid, Spain
Forwards Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scored back-to-back goals in a span of three minutes as Real Madrid defeated Premier League champion Manchester City, 3-2, in a battle of football powerhouses in the UEFA Champions League at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Man City grabbed a 2-1 lead behind defender Aleksandar Kolarov's goal in the 85th minute but Benzema turned brilliantly on the edge of the box and drilled a strike past Joe Hart near the post in the 87th minute to tie the count.
Three minutes later, Ronaldo found room on the left of the box and unleashed a kick that eluded defender Vincent Kompany and went underneath Hart's boot to break a 2-2 tie and hand Real the victory.
The two teams battled to a lackluster scoreless first half but action picked up in the second half when Edin Dzeko scored first for City in the 69th minute.
Not to be outdone, Real Madrid retaliated with a goal from Marcelo in the 76th minute to tie the count.
"It's a good win because the DNA of my team is back. No I don't have sympathy, that's football and we deserved to win. If I felt we did not I would feel for them but we played a better match from the first minute and deserved it totally," Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said.
With the victory, Real has earned three points and a share of top spot in Group D together with Borussia Dortmund, which defeated Ajax Amsterdam, 1-0, behind Robert Lewandowski's goal in the 87th minute.
Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic hit a penalty kick in the 19th minute to jumpstart Paris Saint-Germain's scoring barrage en route to a 4-1 victory over FC Dynamo Kiev in Group A.
FC Porto later joined Paris Saint-Germain atop the Group A standings following a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb. Lucho Gonzalez scored in the 41st minute whil Steven Defour added another goal two minutes into penalty time for Porto.
In other matches, Arsenal defeated Montpellier, 2-1; Shalke 04 beat Olympiakos, 2-1; Anderlecht and AC Milan battled to a scoreless draw and Malaga blanked Zenit St. Petersburg, 3-0.
- Pedro Rodriguez Delivers Hat Trick as Spain Blanks Belarus
- Donovan and Shea Ruled Out of US Soccer Play Due to Injuries
- United States Soccer Team Finalizes Lineup for World Cup Qualifying Semis
- Ferguson: Manchester United in Best Form After Blanking Newcastle
- Chelsea Rips Norwich City, Solidifies Premier League Top Spot
- Chelsea Ends Arsenal's Unbeaten Premier League Start
- Manchester United Beats Newcastle, Secures Place in Capital One 4th Round
- Manchester United Defender Vidic to Miss Two Months After Knee Surgery
- Van Persie Penalty Kick Lifts Manchester United Past Liverpool
- Premier League: Cole Powers Chelsea over Stoke
- Ronaldo's Last-Minute Goal Lifts Real Madrid Past Man City
- Mourinho Berates Real Madrid's Lackluster Performance
- Gervinho Powers Arsenal Rout of Southampton
- Malaga Striker Saviola Calls Messi 'Best Active Player'
- Usain Bolt Could Play in Friendly for Manchester United
- Zenit Shells Out $62.9M Transfer Fee to Porto for Hulk
- Van Persie Hat Trick Lifts Manchester United Past Southampton
- Manchester City Crushes Queens Park Rangers
- Pia Sundhage Steps Down as US Women's Soccer Coach
- Bayern Munich Snares Javi Martinez for Record $50M Transfer Fee
- How Football Continues to Influence Spanish and Italian Politics
Copyright © 2012 AHN - All Rights Reserved