Manchester United vs. Real Madrid: Live Score, Highlights, Recap
By on March 4, 2013
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Manchester United 1-2 Real Madrid (Madrid progress on 3-2 aggregate)
05 March 2013, Old Trafford, Manchester
Referee: Cüneyt Çakir
Kickoff: 2:45 p.m. ET; 7:45 p.m. GMT
"It doesn't get any bigger than this!" - Sir Alex Ferguson (Uefa.com)
Scoring
48' Ramos o.g.
66' Modric
69' Ronaldo
Lineups
Manchester United XI (4-3-2-1): De Gea; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Cleverley, Carrick, Giggs; Welbeck, Nani; van Persie
Real Madrid XI (4-2-3-1): López; Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Coentrão; Xabi Alonso, Khedira; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Higuain
Recap
Cristiano Ronaldo scored on his Old Trafford return and Luka Modric also found the back of the net during his first match in England since leaving Tottenham Hotspur, but the story of Real Madrid’s 2-1 triumph over Manchester United in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie was referee Cüneyt Çakir’s decision to show Nani a controversial red card in the 56th minute.
Nani, who had set up the first goal of the match when his pass into the Madrid goal-mouth was deflected behind Diego Lopez by Sergio Ramos, met Alvaro Arbeloa in the air as the two fought for a high ball, but as he tried to gain possession his leg struck the Madrid right-back and both players fell to the floor.
It would have been harsh for either one of them to have been shown even a yellow card following the incident, so when Çakir issued a straight red to the Portuguese winger the entire stadium fell into a state of shock. Even Madrid manager Jose Mourinho looked embarrassed, and he headed down the tunnel before the final whistle and avoided shaking the referee’s hand.
It took just 10 minutes for Madrid to take advantage of their numerical advantage. Modric, who had replaced Arbeloa just before the hour-mark, cut onto his right foot near the edge of the United box and curled a delightful ball just inside goalkeeper David De Gea’s left post.
Three minutes later Ronaldo had put the guests ahead in both the match and the tie—Gonzalo Higuain finding the Portugal captain at the far post for his 40th goal of the season following a clever flick by Mezut Ozil.
United attempted to fight back from the deficit and were admirable in their attempt, although Diego Lopez came up big when needed and saved the result for Madrid
But even his performance, and those of Danny Welbeck and Ryan Giggs, will be lost because of a decision from the referee that spoiled everything that had taken place and was to follow. Madrid are through to the next round, but even they’ll acknowledge their good fortune in getting there.
Jose Mourinho: "The best team lost."
— Luke Wileman (@LukeWileman) March 5, 2013
He states what we all know, also adding that his side didn't play well the entire match.
@jerradpeters And one wonders why I completely rag on Turkish referees… They don't have the quality for this level.
— Ata Dizdar (@ata_dizdar) March 5, 2013
That's from a Turkish football expert, by the way.
Real Madrid behaving with exceptional class. Muted celebrations; Mourinho going down the tunnel early and not even shaking hands with the referee. Good on them.
Jasper Juinen/Getty Images
FULL TIME: Real Madrid win 2-1 at Manchester United and are through to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The Nani sending off changed everything, but credit to Madrid -- they still had to do the business, and they did it. And now they've won three matches on the bounce against Barcelona and United. Impressive stuff.
Mourinho already heading down the tunnel. Went out and gave Ferguson a hug before heading to the dressing room while the game was still being played. He's embarrassed as well. He knows as well as anyone else that United had done nothing wrong until Nani was sent off. Class act from Mourinho.
Jasper Juinen/Getty Images
92' Diego Lopez with another exceptional save. He's really defended his side's lead late on.
If you're a Real Madrid fan, you can feel good about your team taking the opportunities presented them when they had the man advantage. Say what you want about the call, but Madrid still had to do the business in front of goal, and they did.
But if you're a Manchester United fan, you have that pit in your stomach that only comes when a result is arrived at unjustly. United were far and away the better side until the moment of madness from the referee that changed everything.
Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Rafael was exceptional tonight. Hardly saw Ronaldo before the sending off. It's one of those storylines that will be lost because of one moment of madness from the referee.
87' Antonio Valencia replaces Rafael, who was excellent tonight.
Fergie is right to be fuming, but his choices after final whistle will determine whether things get REALLY ugly or not.
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) March 5, 2013
I'd imagine we're in for a truly epic presser.
84' Rooney and Van Persie knocking at the door. Diego Lopez makes another terrific save, and then Rooney blazes one JUST over the bar.
83' Great save by Diego Lopez! Giggs played one through to Carrick to deflect goalward, but the Madrid 'keeper was equal to the task with an excellent reflex save.
David Rogers/Getty Images
79' Welbeck has his shot blocked and Carrick puts the rebound high and wide. And it proves to be Welbeck's final involvement as he's replaced by Ashley Young.
World's most watched match - official decides it. Ruined it. Football supporters everywhere robbed of what should have been a gamour tie.
— Gareth Wheeler (@WheelerTSN) March 5, 2013
Shameful. It's ruined everything. Even Mourinho looks embarrassed sitting on the bench knowing what's transpired.
76' United's response has been admirable, but it's hard to see them getting the two goals they need under these circumstances. The referee has single-handedly changed the game, and it's a shame. He should be embarrassed here.
74' Kaka goes into the book and Rooney replaces Cleverley.
72' YELLOW CARD Michael Carrick. Didn't even see what happened there.
71' SUBSTITUTION MADRID as Pepe replaces Ozil.
This is what Sir Alex Ferguson thought of the sending off.
69' Cristiano Ronaldo scores on his Old Trafford return. Ozil did really well to lay the ball off to Higuain, who passed across the face of goal for Ronaldo, who had a tap-in.
GOAL REAL MADRID!!! And that could well be the tie.
67' Luka Modric, who had only just come on, cut in on his right foot and curled a delightful ball inside De Gea's left-hand post. Really nice strike for the equalizer.
GOAL REAL MADRID!!!
Nani red card. I know it was a high kick on Arbeloa but that's a bizarre decision.
— Oliver Holt (@OllieHolt22) March 5, 2013
It's a defensible decision, but still a very poor one. There wasn't a hint of malice in it.
61' Real Madrid turning the screw now and close on a corner, but Rafael is well-positioned on the far post to deny Varane's header. Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson has gestured to every section of the ground to make their voices of displeasure heard regarding the Nani sending off.
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