BY Jonathan Ledger
Atletico Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) round of 16 first leg encounter at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday night.
Joao Felix’s early goal for Atletico was cancelled by Anthony Elanga’s late leveler as Diego Simeone’s side hit the bar twice and wasted several opportunities to claim a win going into the second leg at Old Trafford.
Felix gave the home side a deserved lead on seven minutes after he shrugged off a poor United defence to plant a diving header past David De Gea.
Sime Vrsaljko should have doubled Atletico’s lead going into the halftime break but the Croatian defender could only hit the bar from a cross to Man United’s relief.
Ralf Rangnick’s United, however, found the equaliser through Elanga — with the Red Devil’s first shot on target all night.
The 19-year-old latched on to Bruno Fernandes’ pass before stroking a cool finish beyond Jan Oblak on 80 minutes.
The goal was Manchester United’s 500th in Europe’s elite competition.
In search of the winning goal, Atletico went close through Antoine Griezmann but the French striker hit the post, ensuring a winner-takes-all second leg at Old Trafford on March 15.
In the other game of the night, Sebastian Haller, Ivory Coast striker, scored at both ends in Ajax Amsterdam’s 2-2 draw at Benfica.
RESULTS
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