A late equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw for CSKA Moscow against Real Madrid in their Champions League round-of-16 first-leg tie on Tuesday.
Pontus Wernbloom scored in the third minute of stoppage time to keep the tie level heading into the second leg in Madrid on Wednesday March 14, cancelling out Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half opener at the Luzhniki Stadium.
The hosts made a positive start to the match, with Seydou Doumbia and Ahmed Musa looking dangerous with their electric pace and dribbling ability, but no clear-cut chances were created and Real started to impose themselves on the game.
Real’s dominance stalled slightly due to an injury to Karim Benzema 15 minutes into the match. The Frenchman went down innocuously and had to be withdrawn due a problem with his groin.
Mourinho’s men had a great chance to take the lead after 17 minutes but were denied by a terrific double save from Sergey Chepchugov.
Gonzalo Higuain latched on to a loose ball just outside the box and lashed a left-footed shot at goal that was palmed away by the CSKA goalkeeper, who got up instantly to tip Sami Khedira’s rebound effort over the bar.
The breakthrough did eventually come for Real Madrid, through Portuguese pair Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrao.
The left-back found himself in an advanced position and whipped a cross to the back post which proved too much to handle for Zoran Tosic, who awkwardly headed the ball into the path of Ronaldo. The talismanic front man showed great composure to drill a left-footed half-volley at goal that squeezed past Chepchugov.
After the break Real’s defence were on top, with CSKA struggling to mount any attacks of note.
The Spanish outfit had an excellent opportunity to double their lead in the 75th minute but another good save from Chepchugov kept his side in the match.
Ronaldo broke the CSKA offside trap and ran through on goal attempting to take the ball around the goalkeeper, who made an important save.
Ronaldo should have doubled his tally seven minutes from time when he found himself with plenty of space on the edge of the box but dragged his shot wide of the left-hand post.
The win looked to be in the bag for Real Madrid, but CSKA had other ideas.
In the last minute of injury time, Alexey Berezutskiy got on the end of a deep cross to head the ball back into the penalty box, and Wernbloom was there to smash home from seven yards.
