mardi 12 avril 2011

Hernandez and Park on target as United down Chelsea

Manchester United reached the semi-final of the Champions League on Tuesday with a 2-1 second-leg victory over Chelsea that gave them a 3-1 aggregate win.Already 1-0 up from the first leg, United doubled their advantage as Hernandez fired in from close range after 43 minutes.

   Any hopes Chelsea had of a comeback seemed to have disappeared as Ramires was sent off after 70 minutes.

   Didier Drogba pulled one back seven minutes later, but Park Ji Sung had restored the two-goal advantage within a minute.

"It was a tough game tonight," said United midfielder Ryan Giggs. "Chelsea gave us a great game. They needed to score. We just knew we needed to score to take the pressure off us.

   "Obviously if they'd scored the away goal comes in to play and so we needed to score and that's what we did.

   "I think we played well down there, had a good game plan and stuck to it, and even though Chelsea put us under pressure we stuck to it and scored a couple of great goals."

   Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti had promised "a surprise" and he delivered, setting his team out in a 4-3-2-1 formation.

   Unfamiliar it may be for Chelsea, but the Italian wrote his dissertation on the system for his coaching diploma, and used it with great success at AC Milan.

   United, in the 4-4-1-1 with which they had lined up in the first leg, seemed a little bemused, and after a couple of early half chances, struggled to get a grip of possession.

Chelsea's problem was that a lack of natural width made it difficult for them to turn possession into chances. The two they did create in the first half were both slightly fortuitous, and both came down the left.

   First Ashley Cole's cross took two deflections before being half-cleared by Rio Ferdinand. The ball fell for Fernando Torres, who laid the ball off to Nicolas Anelka, and his shot flashed just wide with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar apparently unsighted.

   That was after 14 minutes, and a minute later an intelligent run to the left from Torres created space for Florent Malouda. He hurtled through, and when he was checked, Frank Lampard sidefooted a tame effort straight at Van der Sar.

   The pace of Wayne Rooney, Nani and Hernandez meant that United always offered a threat on the break.

   Hernandez headed in Rooney's cross after 26 minutes but was - correctly - ruled narrowly offside.

   The Mexico striker has been a revelation this season, and he added to his reputation with the opening goal three minutes before half-time.

   A free-kick was half-cleared, and then returned to Ryan Giggs wide on the right. He exchanged passes with John O'Shea and darted into the box before delivering a low cross to the back post where Hernandez fired in from close range.

   Drogba came on for Torres at half-time, but he seemed locked in a private battle to make his mark and prove he should never have been left in the bench in the first place.

   Twice he shot from range when others were better placed, suggesting a frustration on the part of Chelsea that spilled over when Ramires was sent off with 20 minutes remaining.

   Already booked for a foul on Nani, he clattered through the back of the Portugal international and collected a second yellow card.

   Chelsea, though, kept fighting, and when Drogba latched on to a Michael Essien pass to score after 77 minutes they seemed to have hope.

   Within a minute, though, Giggs had laid in Park to settle the tie.

   "They'd just scored so us scoring so quickly after they'd just scored knocked the stuffing out of them and we were able to see the game out," said Giggs.

United will face Schalke 04 in the semi-final unless Internazionale can overturn a 5-2 first leg deficit in Germany on Wednesday.

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