Cristiano Ronaldo struck early to earn Manchester United a 1-0 win over Porto in the Champions League quarter-final second leg and send the holders through 3-2 on aggregate last night.
Ronaldo scored with a spectacular swerving right-foot shot from 40 yards in the sixth minute.
Coming into the game as underdogs after a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, United boss Alex Ferguson urged his players to bring the spirit of the 1999 treble winning team to the Dragao Stadium.
One flash of genius from maestro Ronaldo, coupled with gritty defensive play, earned United glory and keeps the red half of Manchester dreaming of the quintuple.
Porto took time to recover but gradually started pressing and came close to equalising on 20 minutes when Bruno Alves's free-kick flew inches wide of the post.
The Portuguese team continued to create chances in the second half, while United seemed content to control the tie and rarely threatened to grab a second.
With their defence looking much more solid than the first leg, the visitors were restricting Porto to long-range shots. There was time for one last scare for United though but Lisandro Lopez hit his six-yard shot straight at keeper Edwin van der Sar with the goal gaping.
United, who became the first English side to beat Porto away in 12 attempts, will play Premier League rivals Arsenal in the semi-finals.
In London, Arsenal romped into the last four stage of the competition with a crushing 3-0 home defeat of 10-man Villarreal to seal a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Theo Walcott set the tone for a surprisingly one-sided encounter with an early opener before Emmanuel Adebayor's second goal of the tie on the hour and a Robin van Persie penalty finished off Villarreal who had Sebastian Eguren sent off.
Adebayor's stunning bicycle kick in Spain last week had given Arsenal a priceless away goal and Arsene Wenger's players knew a 0-0 draw would be enough to send them through. But Wenger insisted it wasn't in his side's nature to approach any game negatively.
It was just as well he hadn't planned a rearguard action as Arsenal were without an entire back-four - William Gallas, Gael Clichy and Johan Djourou were all injured while Bacary Sagna pulled out late with a virus - as well as first choice keeper Manuel Almunia.
Villarreal's hopes of Champions League glory were also ended by Arsenal in 2006.
However, while that semi-final meeting between the sides was on a knife edge until the very end, Arsenal were streets ahead of their disappointing opponents this time and could have won by a much larger margin.