Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney fired Manchester United to the brink of the UEFA Champions League final with a one-sided victory over sorry Schalke.
Veteran winger Giggs
finally broke the outstanding Manuel Neuer's one-man resistance in the semi-final first leg at the Arena AufSchalke in the 67th minute with a cool finish through the goalkeeper's legs after superb play from Rooney.
And just two minutes later the England international added his name to the scoresheet, sidefooting home from just inside the area after more weak defending from the home side allowed Javier Hernandez to set up his strike partner.
The Red Devils had contrived to create and miss a host of chances in the opening 45 minutes with Hernandez, Giggs, Rooney and Park all left wondering how they had failed to beat Schalke's highly-rated No.1.
The Germany international, who has been linked with Old Trafford as a replacement for Edwin van der Sar but is expected to join Bayern Munich in the summer, produced a series of top-drawer stops to keep his side in the tie.
Ralf Rangnick's men, so poor in the Bundesliga but previously excellent in Europe, elected to bring their dismal domestic form to their biggest game of the season and rarely troubled Van der Sar.
Sir Alex Ferguson is sure to state otherwise in public ahead of the home second leg, but privately he must already be planning for a Wembley showdown with either Real Madrid or Barcelona on 28th May when he looks to bring his third Champions League crown to Old Trafford.
For Rooney in particular, a fifth European Cup final for the Red Devils - on the ground where they won their first in 1968 - means personal redemption, having returned to the Gelsenkirchen arena where he was sent off on his last visit for England, to produce a wondrous performance that confirmed his renaissance beyond any doubt.
finally broke the outstanding Manuel Neuer's one-man resistance in the semi-final first leg at the Arena AufSchalke in the 67th minute with a cool finish through the goalkeeper's legs after superb play from Rooney.And just two minutes later the England international added his name to the scoresheet, sidefooting home from just inside the area after more weak defending from the home side allowed Javier Hernandez
to set up his strike partner.The Red Devils had contrived to create and miss a host of chances in the opening 45 minutes with Hernandez, Giggs, Rooney and Park all left wondering how they had failed to beat Schalke's
highly-rated No.1.The Germany international, who has been linked with Old Trafford as a replacement for Edwin van der Sar
but is expected to join Bayern Munich in the summer, produced a series of top-drawer stops to keep his side in the tie.Ralf Rangnick's men, so poor in the Bundesliga but previously excellent in Europe, elected to bring their dismal domestic form to their biggest game of the season and rarely troubled Van der Sar.
Sir Alex Ferguson
is sure to state otherwise in public ahead of the home second leg, but privately he must already be planning for a Wembley showdown with either Real Madrid or Barcelona on 28th May when he looks to bring his third Champions League crown to Old Trafford.For Rooney in particular, a fifth European Cup final for the Red Devils - on the ground where they won their first in 1968 - means personal redemption, having returned to the Gelsenkirchen arena where he was sent off on his last visit for England, to produce a wondrous performance that confirmed his renaissance beyond any doubt.
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