March 17, (THEWILL) — Vinicius Junior fired Real Madrid into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a brace in a 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, completing a 5-1 aggregate triumph.
The tie turned decisively in the 20th minute when Bernardo Silva was shown a red card after a VAR review confirmed he had used his arm to block the ball on the line. Vinicius stepped up and sent Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way from the spot.
City reduced the deficit before the break when Erling Haaland turned home at the back post following a deflected cross from Jeremy Doku in the 41st minute. The Brazilian winger had missed two gilt-edged opportunities in quick succession that might have put the tie beyond doubt far earlier.
Thibaut Courtois was replaced by Andrii Lunin at half-time due to a reported right adductor problem. City pressed after the interval, with Haaland testing the substitute goalkeeper and Doku seeing a goal ruled out for offside, while Donnarumma produced a fine stop to deny Aurelien Tchouameni at the other end.
Vinicius rounded off the night in the 93rd minute, finishing first-time from Tchouameni’s cross moments after a goal of his own had been disallowed for offside. Madrid had the better of City once more as Pep Guardiola’s side now turns to their EFL Cup final against domestic rivals, Arsenal, on Sunday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
