Danny Welbeck’s first-half header ensured Manchester United left the Bernabeu with a precious away goal from a thrilling 1-1 Champions League encounter with Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
But United old boy Cristiano Ronaldo also left his mark on the last-16 tie with a brilliant equalising header.
Ronaldo also came close with a dipping 40-yard free-kick, whilst David de Gea needed to produce excellent saves to twice deny Fabio Coentrao and the outstanding Mesut Ozil.
United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson declared himself happy with the result - and confident that his side can complete the job at home.
Assessing a busy 90 minutes, Ferguson said: “There were a lot of incidents in the game. We had lots of chances in the match and played some good attacking football at times but we did not get the possession we should have had.
“Real won possession without question, but it takes us back to Old Trafford with a great chance.
“It will be very open. I think we’ll score at Old Trafford. We have a big job on our hands but it is definitely within our grasp.”
Sir Alex also praised his former protege, Ronaldo
“What a header. Unbelievable. You can’t stop that,” he said of the Portuguese’s goal.
“The spring, the way he holds himself in the air, the power in the header. I said to Patrick Evra at half-time, ‘you didn’t challenge for that’. And when I saw the video I thought, ‘what was I talking about?’.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said: “Nothing new. Not a surprising match, not a surprising result.
“I think basically (it was) what I was waiting for, which is everything very open for the second leg. As I was thinking, I think this will go to the last minute.”
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