Nigeria's Dennis scores twice as Club Brugge hold Real Madrid in Spain
Emmanuel Dennis, newly capped Super Eagles player, scored twice for ten-man Club Brugge in a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid in Tuesday’s Uefa Champions league match played in Spain.
The result means Club Brugge keep their unbeaten status at the Santiago Bernabeu, having played a 0-0 draw at the venue in 1977.
The 21-year-old former Ukraine-based striker took advantage of shambolic defending to score two quick first half goals.
The Abuja-trained Dennis, who made his debut against Ukraine in September’s friendly match, scored the first goal on 11 minutes in a fortuitous circumstance.
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South Africa’s Percy Tau broke Madrid’s high offside trap and crossed for Dennis to somehow convert with his standing foot despite not controlling the pass properly.
He duly made it 2-0 to Brugge six minutes from halftime, evading Sergio Ramos to run onto a pass and poke beyond the dire Thibaut Courtois to put his club on the cusp of a major European upset.
Real Madrid responded in the second period and cut the deficit in half through captain Ramos in the 55th minute.
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The centre back’s well-placed header found the back of the net and was confirmed by the VAR system.
Zinedine Zidane’s inspired team continued to pour forward despite Dennis and co’s attempt to slow down the pace of the game.
Their cause was made harder when Ruud Vormer was sent off for a second booking and Real capitalised on it with Casemiro nodding in Toni Kroos’ free kick with five minutes left.
The Belgian Super League champions, who had Simon Mignolet, former Liverpool goalkeeper, in goal, however, held on for a famous 2-2 draw against the 13-time UCL winners, who stay bottom of Group A with a solitary point in their two UCL games this season.
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Results:
Real Madrid 2-2 Club Brugge
Galatasaray 0-1 Paris Saint Germain
Tottenham 2-7 Bayern Munich
Juventus 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Red Star Belgrade 3-1 Olympiacos
Atalanta 1-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Lokomotiv Moscow 0-2 Atletico Madrid
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