{{Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner as Real Madrid beat 10-man Manchester United 2-1 Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League 3-2 on aggregate after a pulsating match which turned on the controversial dismissal of Nani just before the hour mark.}}<\/p>\n
United had just gone ahead on the night through a Sergio Ramos own goal when the Portugal midfielder attempted to control a high clearance from his defense.<\/p>\n
But Nani’s foot was high and his studs caught Real’s Alvaro Arbeloa in his midriff as he moved forward to intercept the ball.<\/p>\n
Turkish referee Cuneyt Cak\u0131r then stunned the Old Trafford by showing a red card to Nani as he recovered from the collision.<\/p>\n
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson charged down from his touchline seat to protest and as Nani eventually parted the field he was given a consolation pat by Real manager Jose Mourinho.<\/p>\n
It was the cue for Real, who had offered little in attack until then, to press forward and the man advantage soon paid in the 66th minute.<\/p>\n
Substitute Luka Modric found space outside the penalty box to unleash a curling and unstoppable shot past David de Gea, the highlight for sure of the Croatian’s stuttering progress with the Madrid giants since his summer signing.<\/p>\n
Two minutes later and United’s worst nightmare was complete as old boy Ronaldo, relatively quiet until then, connected with Gonzalo Higuain’s clever cross to score at the far post.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo pointedly did not celebrate but his goal was decisive, meaning United had to score two more to progress.<\/p>\n
They made a brave fist of it, Real goalkeeper Diego Lopez having to produce fine saves from Michael Carrick, Robin van Persie and Nemanja Vidic.<\/p>\n
Wayne Rooney, surprisingly left out of the United starting line up, also hooked a chance over, but at the other end fellow substitute Kaka rattled the home woodwork.<\/p>\n
At the end it was Real who were celebrating but Mourinho showed some surprising modesty in victory.<\/p>\n
“The best team lost, independent of the sending off,” he told ITV Sport. “We didn’t deserve to win and didn’t play well.”<\/p>\n
Ferguson refused to attend the post-game press conference, because he had been left “very distraught” by Nani’s dismissal, according to his assistant Mike Phelan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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