United downs Dynamo to clinch berth in second round

Gerard Pique scored his first-ever Champions League goal.

Manchester, England  - Manchester United clinched a spot in the second round of the Champions League on Wednesday as the club handled Dynamo Kiev 4-0 at Old Trafford.

Gerard Pique and Carlos Tevez scored six minutes apart in the first half to put the Red Devils out in front, and Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo both added goals in the final 15 minutes to keep United alone at the top of Group F.

Dynamo is now winless in its last 11 Champions League matches, and will fail to advance to the knockout round again this year.

United spent plenty of time in the Dynamo half of the field early on, but lacked the final touch to finish off any of their chances.

It was a positive first 30 minutes from the home side, but they didn’t move ahead until the 31st minute, when Pique scored his first-ever Champions League goal.

United won a free kick just outside the area on the right. Ronaldo drove the ball into the box and Michael Carrick got his head to it, sending the ball toward goal. Carrick’s header hit off the back of Tevez’ head, but it caromed to Pique at the back post, and he rose up over a defender and headed it into the right corner.

The Red Devils kept the pressure on the Dynamo defense as Nemanja Vidic sent a header just wide of the right post minutes later, but United’s second goal was not far away.

Six minutes after Pique tallied his first Champions League goal, Tevez bagged his as he dropped into the midfield to collect the ball and start a run towards goal.

The Argentine slipped a pass to Rooney, who quickly returned the ball to Tevez, and he fired the ball past keeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy from the top of the box to give United a two-goal cushion heading into halftime.

United brought backup ‘keeper Tomasz Kuszczak on at halftime, and he was tested in the first few minutes but held up well. Dynamo’s Diogo Rincon got free at the edge of the area and he ripped a shot that was headed for the right corner of the net, only to be denied by a sprawling Kuszczak.

Dynamo gradually found some more openings in the United defense and came within inches of pulling a goal back on the hour mark.

Marjan Markovic took possession of the ball inside the area on the right and sent a cross through the face of goal for Rincon at the back post. The Dynamo striker lunged for the ball but it was just out of his reach and rolled harmlessly out of play.

Tiberiu Ghioane then forced another good stop from Kuszczak in the 70th minute, but United responded with their third goal of the match to put the result out of reach.

Luis Nani lobbed a perfect ball into the path of Rooney from the right flank. The England international then got to the ball and drove it into the back of the net with a first-time strike from the penalty spot.

Ronaldo then capped the win in style as he carried the ball down the left flank, made a nice move to free himself from a defender, and blasted the ball inside the far post.

In the group’s other contest, Roma earned a 2-2 draw with Sporting Lisbon as an own goal from Sporting’s Anderson Polga in the 89th minute handed the Italian club a point. Roma remains three points clear of the Portuguese club in second place, but is now five points behind leaders Manchester United.

Barcelona took sole possession of first place in Group E as the Catalan side took care of Rangers 2-0, while Lyon beat Stuttgart 4-2 to move to within one point of Rangers in second place.

Group G saw Inter Milan get two goals each from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Esteban Cambiasso in the club’s 4-2 win over CSKA Moscow, while Turkish side Fenerbahce stayed just one point behind Inter with a 2-0 win against PSV Eindhoven.

Arsenal had a chance to clinch a spot in the knockout round as well, but was held to a 0-0 draw by Slavia Prague, while Sevilla won its third game in four matches as it beat Steau Bucurest 2-0. Arsenal can now clinch a second-round spot with a draw in either of its final two games, while Sevilla can also ensure a knockout-round berth with a win over Arsenal in its next match.

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