With the tie finely balanced at 1-1 following the first
leg in Spain, United struck first through an own goal by Sergio Ramos early in
the second half but the game turned on its head after Nani was sent-off in the
56th minute for a high boot in a challenge with Alvaro Arbeloa.
Made a number of brilliant saves before and after Madrid
had taken the lead. Didn't always exude confidence, spilling the odd shot or
mistiming the occasional punch but prevented his side from conceding more than
one goal and was unfortunate to see his own team-mate knock the ball past him.
A brilliant, match-winning display.Real Madrid used their man advantage and
sealed the aggregate victory with two goals in three minutes. Substitute Luka
Modric equalised with a stunning strike from 25 yards before Ronaldo slid in at
the far post to break the hearts of supporters who gave him a hero's reception
before kick-off.
The result completes a wonderful week for the Spanish
giants following two wins over bitter rivals Barcelona and the visiting fans
saluted coach Jose Mourinho as they target an historic 10th European crown.
Ronaldo had a relatively quiet game on his first return
to Old Trafford since his £80m transfer in 2009 but the script was always
written for the Portuguese forward to have the final say.
He may not have done so were it not for referee Cuneyt
Cakir, who infuriated United with his decision to show a red card to Nani. The
United winger appeared to be challenging for the ball and certainly meant no
harm to Arbeloa, but the consequence of his dismissal was that the home side's
gameplan, which had worked so well to that point, was ruined.
Sir Alex Ferguson made a hugely bold decision of only
naming Wayne Rooney as a substitute for United, with Ryan Giggs making his
1000th career appearance in central midfield in the absence of Phil Jones with
an ankle injury. Nemanja Vidic returned at centre-back in place of Jonny Evans
after the United captain missed the first leg.
There were no such surprises in the Real Madrid line-up,
with Gonzalo Higuain selected ahead of Karim Benzema to lead the attack as Jose
Mourinho returned to his first choice starting XI having rested a number of
players in the 2-1 win over Barcelona on Saturday.
Mourinho claimed this clash between two of the biggest
clubs in the Europe would "stop the world" and stars past and present
were in attendance at Old Trafford for this showpiece occasion, from Diego
Maradona to Gareth Bale.
Ferguson called on the crowd to "turn up the
volume" in his pre-match programme notes and Old Trafford was a cauldron
of noise at the teams made their way out of the tunnel at the Stretford
End, with the home fans unveiling a
mosaic in support of their team.
As the team line-ups were read out, Ronaldo's name was
greeted with an enormous roar from all sides of the stadium, the former United
man looking choked as he patted his chest and raised an arm to acknowledge the
reception.
Ferguson predicted an attacking game but set out to
stifle Real and counter-attack, with his plan working almost perfectly in the first
half as they restricted the visitors and came closest to opening the scoring.
United captain Vidic thought he had scored in the 21st
minute but his thumping header from Giggs’ corner rattled against the post
before Danny Welbeck, admittedly in an offside position, mishit the rebound
straight at Real goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
In the 34th minute, Lopez was again forced in to action
as he made a hash of his attempt to save Robin van Persie’s shot from a tight
angle and had to react quickly to deflect Welbeck’s rebound over the crossbar
with his shoulder.
But the hosts had to wait less than three minutes after
the break to take the lead.
After Madrid defenders blocked two United shots in the
penalty area, the ball landed at Nani's feet on the left. The Portuguese winger
played the ball into the box and, after the faintest touch off Welbeck, Ramos
could only turn it into his own net.
The turning point, however, came in the 56th minute when
Nani was shown a straight red card by Turkish referee Cakir for a high foot in
a 50-50 challenge with Arbeloa. On first viewing, it looked a harsh decision
and it certainly left Ferguson and the United players fuming with the
officials.
Mourinho responded to the man advantage by bringing on
Modric for Arbeloa and the former Tottenham midfielder levelled the score in
the 66th minute. After picking the ball up 30 yards from goal, Modric breezed
past Tom Cleverley and struck a thunderous effort in off the post from 25
yards.
Three minutes later, Real Madrid took the lead for the
first time in the tie. Higuain fizzed a low cross along the six-yard box and
Ronaldo used all of his predatory instincts to slide in at the far post and end
United's European campaign.
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