CSKA's late goal stuns Real

MOSCOW - A last-minute strike by CSKA Moscow newcomer Pontus Wernbloom snatched a 1-1 draw for the Russian side against Real Madrid in their Champions League last-16, first-leg match on Tuesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo had given the visiting Spaniards a deserved 1-0 lead after 28 minutes, taking full advantage of a CSKA defensive mix-up and beating nervous-looking goalkeeper Sergei Chepchugov with a low volley into the far corner.

It was Ronaldo's 17th goal in his 23rd Champions League game for Real and 32nd in total in Europe's premier club competition.

The Portugal striker missed a chance to double the lead shortly after the restart, but this time Chepchugov, making his Champions League debut, averted the danger.

The nine-time European champion dominated for most of the match despite playing in sub-zero temperatures on Luzhniki's unfamiliar artificial pitch but paid dearly for its misses when Sweden midfielder Wernbloom equalized in the last minute of added time following a disputed freekick.

Real coach Jose Mourinho blamed Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers for the CSKA goal.

"I'm disappointed with the result. We should have scored the second goal, then we would have won for sure," the outspoken Portuguese said.

But that freekick near the end of the game should have been taken in the opposite direction," he said.

"I must give credit to CSKA as they fought until the end, but the referee had allowed them to play very aggressively and didn't show them any yellow cards."

CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky said, "We made a silly mistake in the first half and they punished us. But in the second half we had some extra attackers pushing forward and probably that was the key."

"We only had a few chances without playing particularly well but were able to get a goal in the end."

Reuters

(China Daily 02/23/2012 page24)