Agence France Presse
Paris, Nov 4: Real Madrid and Manchester City qualified for the Champions League knock-out rounds with victories over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Sevilla respectively in matches played Tuesday evening. And there was relief at Old Trafford as Manchester United ended a 400-minute wait for a goal to beat CSKA Moscow 1-0.
A fortuitous goal from Nacho proved decisive for 10-time champions Real to win 1-0 despite being outplayed for the majority of the first half of their Group A game at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
PSG were on top throughout the first period with Zlatan Ibrahimovic curling a shot from the left just wide of the far post and Edinson Cavani’s stabbed dink over goalkeeper Keylor Navas cleared off the line by a defender. But overall it was a match that the French Ligue champions should have won by at least a two-goal margin.
Real qualified from Group A thanks to Shakhtar Donetsk romping to a 4-0 win over Malmo, a result which means a win for PSG in either of their last two matches will ensure they join the Spanish giants in the last 16.
City banished memories of their recent Champions League struggles as a confident 3-1 win in Seville qualified them for the last 16 with two games to spare in Group D.
Raheem Sterling set them on their way with a goal after eight minutes while Fernandinho doubled the advantage three minutes later.
Frenchman Benoit Tremoulinas gave the Spanish hosts hope but Wilfried Bony’s crisp low finish nine minutes from the break effectively killed the contest, giving City a third straight Group D victory since losing 1-2 at home to Juventus in their opening game.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s failure to beat Juventus in Germany, where the sides played out a 1-1 draw, meant City, who now top the group, have made it to the knock-out stages for only the third time.
City’s neighbours United however, laboured for long periods despite near total domination against CSKA before a late Wayne Rooney header snatched a 1-0 win that placed the Red Devils in control of Group B.
Urged on by their fans to ‘attack, attack, attack’, the Red Devils buzzed around their opponents from the start and enjoyed 70 per cent possession but were often let down by their final ball or a poor finish.
Just before Rooney scored, goalkeeper David de Gea made a spectacular one-handed save against Seydou Doumbia. Almost immediately, Untied went up the other end, carved CSKA open and Rooney headed in Jesse Lingard’s cross unmarked from seven yards.
It was the England striker’s 237th goal for the Old Trafford outfit and drew him level with Denis Law as the club’s second highest scorer, 12 behind Bobby Charlton.
