Real Madrid moved on to the second round of the Champions League 2013 with a 2-1 over Manchester United. The aggregate over the two matches was 3-2 in favor Madrid.
The first half played out as expected. Manchester United played a conservative style that looked to minimize the space that Madrid had for its passing game. Raphael was given the task of containing superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and played extremely well in this capacity. Ronaldo looked nervous in the early going and made a few errant plays. During the remainder of the half, the Portuguese superstar was quiet and barely had any chances or touches on the ball. His one major chance was blocked away by the Manchester defense.
Manchester had the better chances throughout the half. Vidic hit the post on a header and the rebound bounced off Danny Welbeck and right to Madrid keeper Diego Lopez. Later in the half, Robert Van Persie blasted a show straight at Lopez who hit the ball right back into the middle to an oncoming Welbeck. Welbeck hit Lopez with the shot and the ball sailed over the net. Nani also created a great deal of havoc down the left wing by United, but the tandem of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane provided tremendous timely defense for Madrid.
Angel Di Maria went down late in the half with what looked like a hamstring injury; he was replaced by Kaká.
Manchester struck in the second half thanks to an own goal from Sergio Ramos. Welbeck drove into the space and created a flurry in the Madrid area. The ball fell out of the area before Nani threw it back into the space. The ball deflected off of Welbeck and then off of Ramos.
Nani got a controversial red card for a high kick on Alvaro Arbeloa at the 56th minute prompting a lot of questioning from the Manchester bench and commentators on the broadcast. After the play, Luka Modric came on for Arbeloa to provide the team with an additional offensive option. Modric would deliver in the 66th minute with a strike from outside the box that hit off the post and into the net.
Only two minutes later, Ronaldo scored on a far post tap in from a Gonzalo Higuain cross inside the box. It was his 40th goal of the season in all competitions and his eighth in eight Champions league matches. He did not celebrate the goal out of respect for his former team.
After the goal, Pepe came on for Ozil and Wayne Rooney came on for Manchester United for Tom Cleverley. Rooney and Van Persie created a series of stellar chances for Manchester but were stopped by strong saves from Lopez. He made a tremendous save on a Vidic header in the game's waning moments.
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