UEFA Champions League: Late Hernandez goal sends Real through to last four

MADRID - Holders Real Madrid kept alive their dream of a record-extending 11th European crown when Javier Hernandez's late strike against 10-man Atletico Madrid secured a place in the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday.

 

After last week's quarter-final first leg between the city rivals at the Calderon ended 0-0, a tense return at the Bernabeu appeared to be heading for extra time until James Rodriguez slipped a pass through to Cristiano Ronaldo in the 88th minute.

 

The Portugal forward squared for Hernandez and the Mexican forward stroked the ball past Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak to secure a 1-0 aggregate win.

 

It was a bitter blow for Atletico, who went toe to toe with the team that beat them in last year's final until their Turkey playmaker Arda Turan was dismissed for a second booking 14 minutes from time and Hernandez applied the killer blow.  — Reuters