Manchester United powered into the semi-finals of the Champions League last night, downing Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford to clinch a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Goals from Mexican striker Javier Hernandez and South Korean international Park Ji-Sung either side of a lone Chelsea effort from Didier Drogba clinched a deserved victory for United in front of 74,672 fans.
The win put Alex Ferguson’s side into a semi-final against either Schalke 04 or holders Inter, who play each other today.
United, leading 1-0 from last week’s first leg at Stamford Bridge, were worthy victors against a Chelsea side who struggled to match their opponents’ precision in the final third.
Defeat piled the pressure on Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who in all probability will see his team finish the season without a trophy.
Chelsea’s misery was summed up by Ancelotti’s decision to remove £50 million striker Fernando Torres at half-time after another lacklustre contribution from the Spaniard, still goalless after 11 hours of football since joining the club.
An open first half saw Chelsea, lining up in their more familiar 4-3-3 formation, enjoy plenty of possession and territory without ever really threatening United’s goal.
The home team had the ball in the net on 26 minutes when an exquisite curling cross from the right from Wayne Rooney was turned in by Hernandez, the young Mexican stooping to head home only to be given marginally offside.
At the other end, Anelka had alarm bells jangling in the United defence when he pounced on a misclearance from Nemanja Vidic. Fortunately for United, Van der Sar was on hand to snuff out the danger.
Two minutes from half-time United got the goal that their more incisive play merited. A lovely ball from O’Shea saw Ryan Giggs race into the Chelsea area and the veteran’s low cross found Hernandez who buried from point-blank range.
Ancelotti had clearly seen enough of the misfiring Torres for one night, and Chelsea came out for the second half with Drogba at centre-forward.
Yet Drogba’s arrival could not alter the fundamental inferiority of Chelsea’s approach work, and again it was United who looked likeliest to score.
Nani forced a smart save from Petr Cech on 68 minutes and Hernandez should have grabbed a second when he headed a teasing Rooney cross wide a minute later.
Chelsea’s problems deepened on 70 minutes when Ramires followed through on Nani to pick up his second yellow and be sent off.
Yet just as Chelsea looked dead and buried, Drogba gave Chelsea a flicker of hope with a fine goal on 77 minutes, latching on to a through ball from Michael Essien, controlling with his chest and drilling in to make it 1-1.
Thoughts of a Chelsea Houdini act were short-lived however, and United made it 2-1 a minute later when Park latched on to a ball from Giggs and swept past Cech.
Record-breaker
Barcelona eased into the semi-finals, Lionel Messi scoring the only goal against Shakhtar Donetsk in their quarter-final second leg match to complete a 6-1 aggregate success with a Spanish record 48th goal of the season.
Barca, champions in 1992, 2006 and 2009, will now meet either Real Madrid or Tottenham in the last four after Messi made the difference just two minutes before the break.
Messi moved to the head of the goalscoring charts in this season’s tournament by breaking the deadlock at the Donbass Arena, firing in low and left-footed.
A deft flick almost saw the Argentine double the advantage on the night to give Shakhtar, seeking to regroup after a weekend home loss to Obolon, even more of a mountain to climb after a 5-1 romp for the Catalan club in the Nou Camp.
Yet the Ukrainians had enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges despite being without captain Dario Srna owing to an injured thigh while Olexandr Kucher and former Barca defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy were also on the casualty list and left back Razvan Rat was suspended.
However, Barca weathered the early storm and Messi’s riposte deflated their hosts.
Last eight
Played yesterday
Man. United 2
Hernandez 43; Park 78;
Chelsea 1
Drogba 77;
Red card: Ramires (C) 70
(aggregate: Man. United win 3-1)
S. Donetsk 0
Barcelona 1
Messi 43;
(aggregate: Barcelona win 6-1)
Today
Schalke 04 vs Inter - 20.45 (first leg: 5-2)
Tottenham vs Real Madrid - 20.45 (first leg: 0-4)
Semi-finals
April 26-27 and May 3-4.