It's taken a while, but Real have slowly taken more control of the their round of 16 knockout tie with CSKA Moscow. The Russian side threatened early on, with Seydou Doumbia spooning over Iker Casillas' crossbar after a brilliant counter attack featuring 6 passes down the right hand side. Real grew into the match, and should've been ahead after Cristiano Ronaldo collected a misplaced pass in the midfield, outran the CSKA defence to the byline before cutting back for Kaka, who fired who shot into the side netting. The breakthrough goal, though, wasn't far from coming. It finally came after 26 minutes, and was a brilliant team goal. Sami Khedira was found on the right of the penalty box by Marcelo, and he floated a brilliant cross for Kaka on the left, who slid a pass across the box, where Gonzalo Higuain and Ronaldo were waiting. Higuain duly tapped it in with Igor Akinfeev utterly beaten.
Real Madrid Vs. CSKA Moscow, 2012 UEFA Champions League: Halftime, Madrid Leads
Real have continued to assert their dominance, and a second goal that would surely put the tie to bed isn't far off. CSKA Moscow are playing a high line with little pressure, and although they've caught Higuain offside 4 times,Xabi Alonso has picked out Marcelo making dangerous forward runs on multiple occasions. Mesut Ozil and Kaka are beginning to overrun the CSKA midfield, with the former doing brilliantly to beat 3 defenders, before his low cross missed Higuain, Kaka and Ronaldo.
Real, though, will have to be wary about CSKA on the break. Doumbia has been a threat to Pepe and Sergio Ramos, and his pass fed Ahemd Musa on the right, who's hard shot was palmed over the bar by Casillas. Real should go through, but if they aren't careful, CSKA could get the all-important away goal.
