Ronaldo brace helps Real see off BVB

Livescores.com

A brace from Cristiano Ronaldo helped Real Madrid to a 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in their UEFA Champions League Group H clash at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday.Borussia Dortmund 1 Real Madrid 3Bale expertly volleys the openerRonaldo doubles Real's leadAubameyang pulls one backRonaldo completes his brace

Match Summary

The defending champions exposed Dortmund's high backline time and again with Gareth Bale grabbing the opener before Ronaldo made it 2-0.

Both teams had further chances but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back for the hosts. However, the excellent Ronaldo grabbed his brace in the 79th minute to seal victory.

Match Report

BVB's high backline would give Real plenty of space to run into and they should have gone 1-0 up when Dani Carvajal ran onto a pass behind the defence in the 10th minute before cutting inside, but scuffed his effort into the hands of Roman Burki.

Four minutes later Peter Bosz's side nearly hit the front as Andriy Yarmolenko broke free down the right and his cross found Maximilian Philipp at the far post, but his first-time volley was cleared off the line by Sergio Ramos.

Nonetheless, Los Blancos took the lead in the 18th minute as Carvajal's beautifully weighted ball over the top was volleyed home first time by Bale.

Dortmund were creating half-chances with Aubameyang prevalent, however, Ronaldo nearly made it 2-0 just before the break. After a quick one-two with Carvajal, he fired just wide of the near post. Moments later Ramos uncharacteristically missed a free header in the centre of the six-yard box from a corner.

After the interval, Yarmolenko's back-post header nearly found Aubameyang for a tap-in from close range, though Raphael Varane reacted smartly to volley the ball clear.

It was a missed opportunity that would prove costly as in the 49th minute Ronaldo doubled Real's advantage. After Bale once more exposed Dortmund's high defensive line, the Wales star sent in a low cross from the left which the Portuguese forward swept home with typical precision.

Five minutes later Dortmund made their way back into the contest when Aubameyang got a toe on Gonzalo Castro's excellent cross to leave Keylor Navas with no chance. The Gabon striker nearly equalised in the 67th minute when he poked the ball past the keeper but it went just wide of the near post.

Isco nearly added a third for Real four minutes later when he got on the end of Ramos' cross but fired a yard wide of Burki's goal.

In the 75th minute the keeper showed sharp reflexes to keep out Ronaldo's low strike at the near post. Yet, Real's all-time leading scorer put the game to bed when he ran onto Luka Modric's deft through-ball and smashed it with power beyond Burki at his near post.