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Rediff.com  » Sports » Ronaldo returns to knock Manchester United out

Ronaldo returns to knock Manchester United out

Last updated on: March 06, 2013 03:38 IST
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Former Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner against his old club to give Real Madrid a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford and a place in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday.

United, 1-0 up in the game after Real defender Sergio Ramos put through his own goal in the 48th minute and 2-1 ahead on aggregate, were sent reeling in a 10-minute spell midway through the second half as Real secured a 3-2 aggregate success.

The match changed when United winger Nani was harshly shown a red card in the 56th minute by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir for a clumsy but not dangerous high challenge on Real defender Alvaro Arbeloa.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoringTen minutes later substitute Luka Modric, who had only been on the field for seven minutes, lashed in Real's equaliser from 20 metres and Ronaldo slid in at the far post to turn in a cross from Gonzalo Higuain to seal Real's place in the last eight.

Dazzling Dortmund cruise past Shakhtar 

Former European Cup winners Borussia Dortmund marched into the quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years by beating Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 to advance 5-2 on aggregate.

First-half goals from central defender Felipe Santana, a replacement for Mats Hummels, and Mario Goetze effectively killed off the tie following the 2-2 first-leg draw in Ukraine in February.

Jakub Blaszczykowski's close-range effort after 59 minutes buried any lingering hopes for Shakhtar who had come out fighting in the second half.

The Bundesliga champions have now won every home game in the competition this season after also beating Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester City in the group stage.

The 1997 Champions League winners, who have played second fiddle to Bayern Munich in Germany this season, quickly took control of the game.

Striker Robert Lewandowski almost put them in front when Goetze sent him through with a defence-splitting pass and the Polish international's shot was blocked by keeper Andriy Pyatov.

The hosts kept up the pressure but their finishing was less than clinical.

There was nothing complicated about Santana's header in the 31st minute, the Brazilian rising high above marker Yaroslav Rakitskiy to nod in a corner at the near post.

Goetze made it 2-0 in the 37th minute when he tapped in a well-timed Lewandowski cross with Shakhtar defenders again exposed.

The Ukrainians almost pulled one back on the restart with substitute Douglas Costa firing narrowly wide as the visitors poured forward in search of a quick goal.

Pyatov, though, spilled a tame shot from Ilkay Guendogan into the path of Blaszczykowski and he grabbed Dortmund's third goal.

Photograph: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

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