In the 18th minute, Manchester United launched a counterattack.
Fletcher sent a long ball forward toward Rooney.
Under Rooney's pressure, Cannavaro misjudged the aerial ball and mistimed his jump, letting it sail over his head.
Rooney gave him a slight shove from behind.
Then Rooney slipped a through pass forward.
Cristiano Ronaldo attacked the ball inside the box. He deliberately cut in front of Kompany and was brought down by Kompany's moving leg.
The move was almost identical to Su Hang's earlier action—cutting inside and deliberately blocking Ronaldo's path.
The difference was that when Su Hang blocked Ronaldo, it was Ronaldo who nearly went down.
When Ronaldo blocked Kompany, the one who fell was still Ronaldo.
The first case happened because Ronaldo was caught off guard by Su Hang.
The second happened because Ronaldo had planned it in advance, calculating everything beforehand.
Beep!
As the referee blew his whistle, Real Madrid's players immediately rushed toward him.
Kompany kept explaining that he hadn't intentionally tripped Ronaldo—it was Ronaldo who ran into his leg!
But the referee ignored all of it.
Inside the penalty area, a defender casually sticking out a leg and giving the forward a chance to initiate contact is a mistake in itself.
This is not the same as the ugly foul-baiting seen in basketball, like Harden's exaggerated hooking motions.
Translated to football, that would be a player deliberately crashing into someone in the box and then falling over—pure diving.
But in football, there are also "technical dives," where a player falls dramatically after minimal contact.
There are also situations where an attacker deliberately induces a real foul in the box.
And, of course, outright malicious fouls by defenders inside the penalty area.
These are four completely different categories.
Cristiano Ronaldo's case fell into the third category—just like the penalty Su Hang won in his very first match for Real Madrid.
Using positioning, feints, and speed, he slipped in front of the defender from behind and secured the space.
This was an open tactic.
At its core, it was a successful act of pressure.
Ultimately, it came down to Kompany's lack of explosiveness. Had he reached the spot earlier and held his position, it would have been Ronaldo charging into him and committing the foul instead.
Yellow spot!
The referee pointed to the penalty mark.
A wave of boos rose from the Bernabéu.
Ten seconds later, Cristiano Ronaldo used his trademark penalty technique—slowing abruptly just before striking the ball, forcing the goalkeeper to commit, then blasting it home.
Casillas was helpless.
This was Ronaldo's signature penalty style.
It wasn't until he missed in the rainy Moscow night that he gradually abandoned this opportunistic approach, switching instead to pure power over finesse.
That change marked one of the signs of his maturation.
"GOAL! Two–two! Cristiano Ronaldo steps up!"
"Ronaldo converts the penalty he earned himself!"
"Against the mighty Real Madrid, Ronaldo has scored four goals across the two legs—a truly dominant performance!"
"The aggregate score is now five–four! Manchester United take the lead once again!"
On the pitch, Ronaldo sprinted toward the corner flag and dropped into a commanding knee slide, as if engraving himself into the memory of the Bernabéu forever.
That slide carried Manchester United fans straight into the summer of 2007.
At this point, judging by performance in this match alone, Cristiano Ronaldo was no longer inferior to Su Hang.
...
On the field, Su Hang went over to Zidane to talk things through.
When Real Madrid restarted play, everyone noticed that Zidane and Su Hang had switched positions.
Zidane playing on the left midfield posed no problem—he had played there before at Real Madrid.
But Su Hang as an attacking midfielder… it felt a little unreliable.
After all, the attacking midfield role demands extremely high technical ability.
Unlike the wings, there isn't much space to simply rely on speed.
The area is crowded with defenders and heavily tests dribbling, ball control, touch, rhythm, and speed of thought.
Those weren't exactly Su Hang's strongest attributes.
But very quickly, everyone understood why Su Hang had moved there.
He wasn't playing as a number ten at all…
He was playing the right side.
In the 22nd minute, Zidane passed to Raúl, who had dropped slightly deeper.
Raúl laid the ball back to Su Hang.
Su Hang called Beckham over, passed the ball to him, and immediately pulled wide to the right while accelerating forward.
Manchester United's defensive line instantly fell into chaos.
Carrick hesitated, unsure whether he should follow Su Hang out wide.
Evra didn't know whether to mark Beckham with the ball or Su Hang without it.
In an instant, Beckham struck the ball cleanly.
Bang!
A pinpoint cross!
Inside the box: Van Nistelrooy at the near post, Raúl in the middle, and Zidane making a late run from the left!
Three threats attacking the goal!
Manchester United's penalty area descended into panic.
At the critical moment, the Serbian proved his worth.
Vidić leapt high and headed the ball clear, sending it toward the side of the box.
But in the next instant, Su Hang charged onto the ball and struck it with the inside of his right foot.
Bang!
The curling cross reappeared!
Another laser-guided pinpoint cross!
Because everyone had just completed an intense defensive exchange in the box, no one had fully reset their positions.
And then this cross arrived immediately.
Heinze, Vidić, Carrick—all stood frozen.
Likewise, Van Nistelrooy in an offside position, and the onside Raúl and Zidane, all reacted too late.
But they didn't need to react.
The ball curved past Vidić, smashed into Raúl's head, and bounced toward the Manchester United goal—
like a three-dimensional pinball.
Except for the man who struck the ball, no one else needed to do anything.
Boom!
In an instant, the Bernabéu erupted like a tidal wave.
"GOAL!"
"Too fast! After Real Madrid scored, Manchester United responded in under five minutes—but now, once again in under five minutes, Real Madrid strike back!"
"Su Hang's curved cross, like Beckham possessed, locks onto Raúl for the finish!"
"This is Raúl's easiest goal of the season—he didn't even need to move!"
"Manchester United players are appealing for offside."
"The linesman keeps his flag down."
"The referee points to the center circle—the goal stands! Van Nistelrooy did not benefit Real Madrid in this attack!"
"Three–two! Real Madrid take the lead once again!"
"The aggregate score is now five–five! This is a true fifty-fifty battle!"
"But this is the Bernabéu, so Manchester United are actually in the more favorable position."
"Both sides now have two away goals, but if United score one more, Real Madrid will need two goals to turn things around!"
"In other words, Manchester United's next goal will be worth more than Real Madrid's!"
Manchester United understood this clearly and began attacking frequently afterward.
In the 31st minute, Cristiano Ronaldo successfully cut inside from the wing and slipped a through pass forward.
Rooney finished the move.
Unfortunately, the assistant referee raised his flag—Rooney was offside, and the goal was ruled out.
At the other end, Real Madrid showed no hesitation either. Even if their goals carried less weight, they still needed to score to win.
In the 37th minute, Zidane fired a long-range shot that earned a corner.
Beckham delivered the corner, and Ramos powered in a header.
However, the referee had already blown his whistle before the ball went in.
Ramos had pushed Evra, creating the unmarked heading opportunity.