Real Madrid, Man United win
London, February 21:
Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Lille on Tuesday in the Champions League was marred by crowd incidents and a contentious goal. Real Madrid, however, helped ease the pressure on its coach by beating Bayern Munich 3-2. Also, PSV Eindhoven beat Arsenal 1-0 and Celtic held AC Milan to a 0-0 in the other first leg matches of the second round.
Ryan Giggs scored the winning goal for United in the 83rd minute. That prompted an angry reaction from Lille, who claimed Giggs had not waited for the referee’s whistle and took the free kick too quickly.
Lille also had a goal by Peter Odemwingie ruled out because the referee said he pushed United defender Nemanja Vidic.
Madrid got two first-half goals from Raul Gonzalez and another from Ruud van Nistelrooy to give the nine-time champions the edge heading into the second leg in two weeks. Raul scored in the 10th and 28th minutes. Van Nistelrooy added another in the 34th. Defender Lucio scored for Bayern in the 23rd, with midfielder Mark van Bommel adding what could be a decisive away goal in the 88th.
Edison Mendez scored in the 61st minute for PSV Eindhoven sending a long range shot into the bottom corner of the post.
Milan striker Alberto Gilardino had his team’s best chance when he beat the offside trap in the 26th minute, but his shot was deflected wide by Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc. For Celtic, Shunsuke Nakamura’s free kick was saved by Zeljko Kalac in the 39th.
AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini became the fifth player to make his 100th Champions League appearance, joining Oliver Kahn, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos and Raul Gonzalez.