Vlasic Powers CSKA Moscow To Beat Real Madrid

By Nigel Philips

CSKA Moscow set the Russian capital agog on Tuesday with their first ever Champions League win over Real Madrid on day-two of the 2018/19 campaign.

Julen Lopetegui’s side defeated Roma 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu a fortnight ago, but their hunt for a second straight win was thwarted at the VEB Arena as Viktor Goncharenko’s men beat them 1-0 courtesy Nikola Vlasic’s first-half goal.

Tuesday’s result was the first time the Red-blues are beating the Los Blancos after losing once and drawing as many games in all three games played with the Spanish giants.

Nikola Vlasic capitalised on a poor defending from Rafael Verane in the 2nd minute to get to the edge of the box and he made no mistake afterward with a lovely finish into the middle of the net.

Nacho met an excellent cross, and from the edge of the penalty box, 20 minutes later,unleashed a header towards the bottom right corner of the goal, but his effort was blocked to safety.

Casemiro tried his luck with a shot from mid-range in the 28th minute, but his efforts hit the left post, Karim Benzema missed the crossbar narrowly in the 37th minute, before Igor Akinfeev pulled up a great save to a close-range effort from Daniel Carvajal.

Igor Akinfeev stopped Marco Asensio’s shot from heading into the top corner five minutes into the restart, and Jaka Bijol received the yellow card after bringing down Karim Benzema in the 55th minute.

Marco Asensio hit wide from the penalty box in the 69th minute, Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) smashed the ball towards goal from the edge of the penalty box, but missed the target by inches, five minutes before CSKA Moscow’s Jaka Bijol forced a save from Keylor Navas with a shot towards the right side of the posts.

Luka Modric headed wide in the 87th minute, Mariano Diaz leaped high to meet a lofted pass inside the six-yard box but headed onto the left post before Igor Akinfeev closed the game with a yellow card and sent off for misconduct.