FOOTBALL NEWS. Alvaro Negredos hat-trick ensured Manchester City moved into the Champions League knockout phase for the first time with a comfortable win over CSKA Moscow. Sergio Aguero was the initial inspiration, scoring two and setting up another for Negredo as City scored three times inside the first half-hour to make it a straightforward night for Manuel Pellegrinis side. Having already secured a victory in Moscow, City knew they would be able to progress into the last 16 at the third time of asking if they won again and Viktoria Plzen failed to beat holders Bayern Munich. Agueros early penalty was followed by a cool finish before a cross for strike partner Negredo effectively ended the contest. Seydou Doumbia did pull a goal back for CSKA before the interval but the outstanding Samir Nasri set up Negredos second just after half-time to restore Citys three-goal advantage. Doumbia beat City keeper Costel Pantilimon, once again chosen ahead of England keeper Joe Hart, from the spot for his second but City were never seriously under threat at any time as they cruised to victory. It was fitting that Negredo, swiftly becoming a cult figure among Citys fans and now dubbed The Beast, had the final word when he completed his treble in the dying seconds with a header from substitute James Milners cross. The Russians showed some signs of life on half-time when they opened up City through the middle and Doumbia rounded Pantilimon to score. City, who replaced Fernandinho with Milner at half-time, responded six minutes after the restart when Yaya Toures lofted pass into the area found Nasri, who unselfishly knocked the ball across the face of an open goal for Negredo to score with ease once again. The only blot on Citys display had been some defensive carelessness that might have received greater punishment against better opponents. But as the result of the Plzen-Bayern game went their way, with the German side winning 1-0, Negredo rounded off a highly-satisfactory night for City when he headed in from Milners delivery Gareth Bale scored his first Champions League goal for Real Madrid as they drew with Juventus to move closer to qualifying for the knockout stages. Arturo Vidals penalty put the Italians ahead, before Cristiano Ronaldo equalised from Karim Benzemas pass. Bale, 24, who was signed from Tottenham for a world record fee of £85.3m (100m euros) in August, hammered in a low shot to put Real 2-1 ahead on the hour. But Fernando Llorentes stooping header secured a precious draw for the hosts. Real Madrid need just a point from their final two group games to be sure of a place in the last 16, and a healthy goal difference may make even that unnecessary. By contrast, Juventus may need to win both their remaining matches to ensure qualification after a slow start to their campaign Cristiano Ronaldos eighth goal in this years group matches equals a record for this stage of the competition jointly held by Ruud van Nistelrooy, Filippo Inzaghi and Hernan Crespo. However, Paris St-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is also in contention to beat their mark - having scored seven in the current campaign. Draws away to Copenhagen and at home to Galatasaray in their first two games, along with a 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture in the Bernabeu, left the Bianconeri with no choice but to chase the game from the start. Real Madrid initially revelled in the space that opened up with Ronaldo and Bale - two points of a three-pronged attack alongside Karim Benzema - both threatening on the break. However, the industry of Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez dragged the momentum the Italian sides way and after Iker Casillas had saved brilliantly from Claudio Marchisios header, Pogba was felled in the box by an untidy challenge by fellow Frenchman Raphael Varane. Vidal beat Casillas with a nerveless strike from the penalty spot and the home fans were bouncing in the stands as their side re-emerged for the second half. Real soon dampened that enthusiasm, as Ronaldo ruthlessly punished Martin Caceress wayward pass before Bale scored his first Champions League goal since registering a hat-trick in Spurs 4-3 defeat to Inter Milan in October 2010. The Welshman collected Ronaldos square pass, bought himself a yard of space with a swift change of feet and sent a fierce, low shot inside Gianluigi Buffons near post. But Llorente, who moved to Juventus for free in the summer after a year spent running down his contract with Athletic Bilbao, exploited another error by Varane to equalise shortly after. The French defender was caught ball-watching as Llorente spun away from him to meet Caceress deep cross and keep Real waiting on their passage to the next round.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 02:05:01 +0000
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