Real Madrid earned themselves a pretty valuable point from their Champions League tie against CSKA Moskow, although Jose Mourinho’s men were obviously disappointed as they wasted a potential victory in the last minute.
Taking the lead early through Christiano Ronaldo, the Galacticos failed to maintain in after Pontus Wernbloom equalized for the Russian side right in the final minute of the match.
Playing in a very difficult nature condition with the cold weather and also artificial pitch, Madrid players did looked a bit uncomfortable earlier as they were also forced to lose Karim Benzema early in the match because of injury. However, it didn’t really affected the away team that much as they also have Gonzalo Higuain coming in as a substitute with pretty similar qualities and proved to be dangerous as well on the match.
Despite the difficult condition, Madrid actually managed to take more control of the match as CSKA failed to provide much thread on Iker Cassillas’ goal. The away team showed their domination with a goal from their Portuguese superstar in the 22th minute after Ronaldo pounced on a defensive error from the home team defenders to open the score sheet for Mourinho’s team.
The home team tried to improve their game in search of the equalizing goal but their scrappy play allowed Madrid some pretty comfortable time at the back, while continue threating offensively especially through Ronaldo and Callejon in the second period. Acknowledging things didn’t really change a lot until midway into the second half, CSKA bring on their Japanese star, Keisuke Honda, hoping that the midfielder who had just returned from injury could provide more composure for the home team.
CSKA’s expectation turned out sweet as Honda’s appearance did provide more balance for the Russian side which in the end allowed them to be more dangerous and eventually stealing a goal in the final minute. Wernbloom smashed a ball from seven yards after a mess in the penalty area and earn the Moscow side a pretty valuable result for their devotees as holding a side like Madrid can always be considered an important achievement, although it doesn’t look promising for them in the second leg.
photo credit: Carlos RM
