Cristiano Ronaldo came in clutch for the upteenth time in a Manchester United shirt as his side snatched a draw in Tuesday's night's UEFA Champions League clash with Atalanta. The 36-year-old Portuguese superstar scored the all-important equaliser with a sensational half-volley to deny La Dea all three points as the race for qualification out of Group F hots up.
It was a thorougly enjoyable night of football inside the Gewiss Stadium as the two sides locked horns just two weeks after their meeting at Old Trafford. With the host having lost in the reverse encounter in England, a favorable result in their own backyard was non-negotiable and they did enough to set the tone to potentially grab all the three points.
Josip Illicic's inventiveness coupled with a goalkeeping howler by David de Gea handed Gian Piero Gasperini's side the lead just 12 minutes after kick-off. The visitors were dealt a subsequent blow with Raphael Varane picking up yet another injury. He was replaced by Mason Greenwood in the 38th minute as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer resorted to tweaking the shape of his side to one with four defenders at the back - with Eric Bailly and Harry Maguire partnering up at centre-back while Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan Bissaka filled the left and right-back slots respectively.
Having made advances of their own while keeping Atalanta at bay, Manchester United were rewarded with a goal of their own on the stroke of half-time. It was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo who finished off a well-worked move involving Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford to cancel out the goal deficit.
The Premier League club was however put on the back foot once again after poor defending by Harry Maguire allowed Duvan Zapata to creep in and escaped the offside trap to score Atalanta's second of the night. A lengthy VAR check made the goal to stand albeit being a close call. With all indications pointing at a win for Atalanta as the two sides battled into additional time, Cristiano Ronaldo emerged once more to save the day for the Red Devils with a brilliant half-volley.
Watch the goal below:
No way Ronaldo! br>
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 2, 2021
How does he keep on doing this!
Such a clean volley to rescue Man Utd yet again! pic.twitter.com/UaVyRFQsy6
With the result, Manchester United dropped to second position with seven points from four outings. The Group is currently led by Villarreal who have accrued the same number of points following their 2-0 win over Young Boys. The Spain club's superior goal advantage puts them above the Red Devils with the two sides set to lock horns at Old Trafford latter in November.
