Cristiano Ronaldo fell to his knees at the final whistle and looked to the sky as Manchester United바카라™s fans sang his name. The Portugal star had saved his team again in the Champions League. (More football News)
The greatest scorer in the competition바카라™s history soared to head in an 81st-minute winner as Manchester United erased a two-goal halftime deficit to beat Atalanta 3-2 in a wild match at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
바카라śThat바카라™s just what he does,바카라ť Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. Ronaldo바카라™s record-extending 138th goal in the Champions League came three weeks after he scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to snatch a victory over Villarreal in the second round of games.
This time, the goal came earlier 바카라” and was a trademark header with hang time and unerring accuracy after meeting a cross from Luke Shaw that was whipped in from deep on the left.
바카라śHis leap, his timing 바카라” it was the perfect header,바카라ť Manchester United captain Harry Maguire said. 바카라śHe has come up with a massive goal again in the Champions League.바카라ť Manchester United keep doing it the hard way in this season바카라™s competition.
There was the surprising loss to Young Boys in the first game, after Aaron Wan-Bissaka바카라™s first-half red card. Then a come-from-behind 2-1 win against Villarreal after being outplayed for large parts at Old Trafford.
Now this comeback against Atalanta, which moved United into first place in Group F 바카라” two points above the Italian side and Villarreal.
Atalanta took a two-goal lead thanks to goals by Mario Pašalić 바카라” a tap-in in the 15th minute after United바카라™s defense was caught off guard by a quickly taken free kick 바카라” and Merih Demiral바카라™s header from a corner in the 29th.
United, which came into the game with just two wins from its last seven games in all competitions, was jeered off the field at halftime.
However, Solskjaer바카라™s team showed a different side in the second half, laying siege to Atalanta바카라™s goal as Marcus Rashford 바카라” on his first start this season after injury 바카라” reduced the deficit in the 53rd with a calm finish following a delicious outside-of-the-foot pass behind the defense by Bruno Fernandes.
Maguire, who was partly at fault for Atalanta바카라™s goals, swept in the equalizer in the 75th after Fernandes바카라™ cross made its way past a number of players and to the back post where the England defender was lurking.
Ronaldo had the final say, not just through his goal 바카라” his sixth in eight games since returning for a second spell at United 바카라” but also through his last-ditch clearance in the final seconds that sparked a roar from the home fans. Ronaldo was playing his 300th game for the club.
The win relieves some of the pressure on Solskjaer, who vowed to make changes to the team to restore some balance after a sobering 4-2 loss to Leicester on Saturday. He was true to his word, dropping Paul Pogba and pairing Scott McTominay and Fred to give more energy in central midfield.
The momentum of the game swung at halftime, with Atalanta looking less assured at the back after Demiral was forced off at the break because of injury.
The visitors were already without defenders Rafael TolĂłi 바카라” the captain 바카라” Berat Djimsiti, Robin Gosens and Hans Hateboer for the match, and United took advantage of Atalanta바카라™s makeshift backline in the second half.
