CSKA Moscow score Real late equaliser

Wernbloom (R) celebrates with team-mate Vasili Berezutsky after scoring crucial late equaliser [GALLO/GETTY]

CSKA Moscow equalised from the last kick of the match when newcomer Pontus Wernbloom snatched a 1-1 draw for the Russian side against Real Madrid in their Champions League last 16 first-leg match on Tuesday.

“It was great to get the injury-time goal and it really gives us a chance going into the second leg,” CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky said after the match.

“Wernbloom is the hero with the goal, of course. But he played a good defensive game on the whole.”

Cristiano Ronaldo put the visitors ahead after 28 minutes with a low volley into the far corner, after a defensive mix-up by CSKA.

It was Ronaldo’s 17th goal in his 23rd Champions League game for Real and 32nd in total in Europe’s premier club competition.

Playing in sub-zero temperatures and on an unfamiliar artificial pitch, the visitors dominated the match throughout.

However, Real were guilty of missing several chances to double their lead and see off the home side, thanks largely to CSKA goalkeeper Sergei Chepchugov, who pulled off numerous saves to keep his side in the contest.

Chepchugov made a fine double save early on, first stopping Gonzalo Higuain, who had just replaced injured Karim Benzema, then denying Sami Khedira from close range seconds later.

Ronaldo had another chance late in the game but fired just wide of the post with a low shot from the edge of the box.

The Russians rarely threatened until Sweden midfielder Wernbloom, who joined CSKA in January, beat Iker Casillas in a goalmouth scramble in the last minute of added time, sending a record 70,000-strong home crowd wild.