Cristiano Ronaldo fired his 88th Champions League goal in Real Madrid 2-0 win over AS Roma at Stadio Olimpicoon on Wednesday.
The Portuguese broke the resistance of the hosts in the second half to also register his 12th Champions League goal of the season.
A late Jese Rodriguez strike in the second period saw Los Blancos secure a strong advantage ahead of the return leg in Madrid next month.
The first shot in anger came from Real Madrid and a certain Cristiano Ronaldo in the eighth minute of action, but the Portuguese’s free kick from distance was always moving wide of the post.
The first half-chance of the match came to Roma in the 17th minute when Diego Perotti set up Stephan El Shaarawy inside the box, but the Italian’s close-range effort missed the target, which had been narrowed by Keylor Navas.
Marcelo’s forward runs were proving problematic for Roma in the first period and the Brazilian attempted a spectacular volley from the edge of the box 10 minutes before the break, only to watch his effort drop wide of the far post.
The visitors took the lead just before the hour when Marcelo set up Ronaldo, who cut inside Alessandro Florenzi before angling one into the top corner, albeit helped by a slight deflection from the Roma captain.
Ronaldo almost turned provider moments later after beating the offside trap and squaring the ball into space, but there were no grey shirts with him as Roma wobbled at the back.
Ronaldo should have had his second in the 74th minute when he headed a James cross towards the bottom corner, but the ball just dropped wide of the post as Roma survived a second goal.
Roma should have been awarded a penalty in the 81st minute when Carvajal brought Florenzi to the ground inside the box, but the referee was not interested and waved play on.
Half-chances continued to arrive at both ends in the latter stages, but it was Real Madrid that grabbed the game’s all-important second goal in the 86th minute when Jese found the bottom corner with a low strike.
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