Cristiano Ronaldo came to Manchester United’s rescue yet again, as his late strike helped the Red Devils secure a 2-2 draw against a determined Atalanta in the Champions League Tuesday.
Juventus and Bayern Munich, in the meantime, both secured qualification for the last 16 with two group games to spare.
Ronaldo fired in from the edge of the box a minute into injury time to snatch United the draw with Atalanta in Italy and keep them on course to qualify from Group F.
The competition’s all-time top scorer had earlier canceled out Josip Ilicic’s opener to equalize at the end of a slick team move in first-half stoppage time.
However, having lost Raphael Varane to injury before that, United went behind again in the 56th minute when Duvan Zapata ran through, evading Harry Maguire before slotting in.
The goal was initially disallowed for offside before being given after a VAR review, but Ronaldo thwarted the hosts again with his ninth goal in 11 appearances since returning to Old Trafford and his record-extending 139th goal in the competition.
“We believed until the end. I helped my team get one point,” said Ronaldo. “We never give up, it’s a good result for us I think.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side is level on seven points atop the group with Villarreal, who beat Swiss champions Young Boys 2-0 in Spain with Etienne Capoue scoring a first-half opener and then setting up Arnaut Danjuma to clinch the win late on.
