Renan Lodi’s first half header was enough to take the La Liga side to the quarter-finals of the competition after the first leg had ended 1-1.
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Atletico Madrid beat Manchester United 1-0 in the champions League last-16 second leg fixture at Old Trafford on Tuesday. Renan Lodi’s first half header was enough to take the La Liga side to the quarter-finals of the competition after the first leg had ended 1-1. The Red Devils lacked the spark and creativity to break down a resolute Atletico defence. It was a typical Atletico performance that saw them take the lead and then defended successfully, deep in their own half.
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E Q U I P O ! ?⚪️ @Atleti pic.twitter.com/y6cX3pVVCe
— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann) March 15, 2022
United started the match on the driving seat as Elanga got on the end of Diogo Dalot’s overhead ball but the referee blew the whistle for a foul on goalkeeper Jan Oblak as the forward collided with him.
Few moments later, Elanga got another chance, this time it was a much more clear-cut opportunity. Ronaldo released Bruno Fernandes down the right channel and the playmaker’s low cross found Elanga at the near post but the Englishman’s close-range effort struck Oblak’s face and went out.
At the other end, Rodrigo de Paul’s long-range effort had goalkeeper David de Gea at full stretch. Although Atletico didn’t have too much ball possession and were defending for large parts of the opening half, they looked threatening on the counter.
Joao Felix put the ball inside the net from Marcus Llorente’s cross but the latter was adjudged off-side. And then, Atletico took the lead on 41 minutes, once again through a well-worked move.
De Paul played an inch-perfect through ball to find the run of Felix, whose nice little back-heel found Antoine Griezmann and the Frenchman’s cross from the right side of the box was headed home by Lodi at the far post. In response, Fernandes’ swirling effort from outside the box tested Oblak,.
After the break, De Paul once again tested De Gea from outside the box before Jadon Sancho’s first-time volley from Dalot’s cross went over the bar. Rangnick made a triple substitution midway through the second half, Fernandes was withdrawn.
The hosts pushed men forward but Atletico looked comfortable while defending. Oblak made a brilliant save to deny Raphael Varane from a set-piece before Ronaldo’s shot from the rebound was comfortably collected by the keeper.
