Manchester United, Olympique Lyon win in Champions League
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Two second-half goals by England striker Wayne Rooney propelled Manchester United to a 3-2 European Champions League victory over AC Milan in Italy on Tuesday, while Cameroon midfielder Jean Makoun‘s second-half goal was enough to earn Olympique Lyon a 1-0 home win over Real Madrid in France.
On-loan Galaxy winger David Beckham started for Milan, which got off to the best possible start when Ronaldinho scored after only three minutes. But veteran midfielder Paul Scholes tied the game for Manchester United in the 36th minute, and Rooney’s goals in the 66th and 74th minutes put the English champions in charge of the two-legged tie.
Clarence Seedorf pulled one goal back for Milan in the closing moments, but after losing at home Coach Leonardo‘s side faces a virtually impossible task in rescuing the round-of-16 series when the teams play each other again, in Manchester on March 10.
Real Madrid, which was outplayed by Lyon despite the presence of such standouts as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema, has a better chance of advancing, having to overcome only a one-goal deficit when it returns to Madrid for the second leg next month.
Lyon will rue not having put another two or three goals past the Spanish side, but squandered chances and bad luck haunted the French team. The post denied Cesar Delgado a goal when he hammered a volley into the woodwork in the first half, and Lyon had to settle for Makoun’s 47th-minute strike on a superbly struck 25-yard volley that easily beat Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
For more on Tuesday’s Champions League matches, and a preview of Wednesday’s two games, please see http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/ later on Tuesday.
-- Grahame L. Jones