Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney fired Manchester United to the brink of the Champions League final with a one-sided victory over sorry Schalke.
Sorry Schalke submit to Giggs and Rooney
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.
Precision
As United trudged in at half-time, they cannot have known whether to laugh or cry.
Their pace, power and precision was simply too much for Schalke, who were opened up with a regularity barely credible at this level of the game. Incredibly though, the score remained goalless.
Starting with a Rooney effort that flicked off Atsuto Uchida and forced Neuer into the first of a series of magnificent saves, and ending with a last-minute opportunity when Giggs raced onto a Rooney through-ball and failed to beat the Germany number one, United created 11 clear chances.
Had they done that over the duration of both legs, Ferguson would probably have been quite pleased. To do so in a single half, and not to take any of them, defied belief.
Rooney could only have wished he was on the end of some. Instead, Park Ji-sung had two opportunities charged down, Giggs was denied by Neuer twice and Fabio flashed a half-volley over the bar.
By far the worst culprit was Hernandez. Lauded to the skies in recent weeks after a series of timely interventions which have sent United surging towards a record 19th league title, the Mexican was too much for Schalke's beleaguered defence.
For once, though, the 22-year-old had left his shooting boots at home. Whether he was being set up by Antonio Valencia, outstanding on the right wing, Rooney or Park, Hernandez just could not find the target.
Partly it was his fault as shots flew wide of the Schalke goal, while on other occasions Neuer was in the way.
Bystander
On a record-equalling 13th semi-final appearance, Van der Sar was a virtual bystander once he had made a couple of early stops to deny Jefferson Farfan.
Worryingly for Ferguson, the profligacy just continued after the restart.
Neuer denied Michael Carrick with a brilliant fingertip save but, when the Schalke defence opened up for Giggs shortly afterwards, the Welshman's effort with his weaker right foot was woeful.
There must have been a fear in the United camp that Schalke would soon start to show the form that got them to this stage of the competition and put five goals past holders Inter Milan at Giuseppe Meazza in the quarter-final.
Thankfully for Ferguson and his team, they did some damage first. Rooney was the architect of the opener, threading a fine ball through to Giggs who, with his left foot, calmly slotted home.
Within three minutes, United had another chance as Hernandez set up Rooney. From a similar position to Giggs, he was never likely to miss as he bagged his 14th goal of the season.
In the knowledge that a three-goal triumph for Schalke at Old Trafford in eight days' time is impossible to imagine, Ferguson's introduction of Anderson and Paul Scholes was designed purely to shore up the midfield.
It worked, too, allowing United to stroll home and let their minds wander towards Sunday's Premier League trip to Arsenal and then Wembley at the end of May.
| FC Schalke 04 |
Team Statistics |
Manchester United |
| 0 |
Goals |
2 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
10 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 3 |
Corners |
6 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 73 |
Passing Success |
86.1 |
| 15 |
Tackles |
12 |
| 86.7 |
Tackles Success |
83.3 |
| 33.3 |
Possession |
66.7 |
| 57.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
42.4 |
|
