Ronaldo helps Madrid tie United 1-1

Published Feb. 13, 2013 11:41 p.m. ET

foxsports

Cristiano Ronaldo scored on a spectacular header for Real Madrid in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Wednesday night in the first leg of their final-16 Champions League series.

After Danny Welbeck opened the scoring for United in the 20th minutes with a header off a corner kick, Ronaldo rose high to meet Angel di Maria's swinging cross 10 minutes later for his 183rd goal for Madrid - and first against former his former club.

''We began very strong and suddenly they scored and the match took on another form for us,'' Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said.

David de Gea made several impressive saves for United, including a fingertip effort onto the post to deny Fabio Coentrao in the first half.

''Fortunately, David De Gea made some very good saves. He's been improving all season and he made an absolutely superb save there,'' United manager Alex Ferguson said.