Park Ji Sung hit the winner for Manchester United while Lionel Messi was again on target for Barcelona on their way to the semi-finals of the Champions League Tuesday.Park struck in the 77th minute immediately after Didier Drogba had levelled for 10-man Chelsea, to give United a 2-1 win at Old Trafford and a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Messi meanwhile struck his ninth goal in 10 Champions League games as Barcelona followed up their 5-1 home victory over Shakthar Donetsk with a 1-0 win in Ukraine - setting up the prospects of a semi-final meeting with Spanish rivals Real Madrid.
United progress to their fourth semi-final in five seasons and a possible meeting with Germany's Schalke 04, who are 5-2 up on holders Inter Milan going into Wednesday's home second leg.
"It was a very, very good performance against a very good Chelsea side," United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said.
"Chelsea played a big part in the game and they really had a go at 1-0 down. But Drogba's goal was a cheap goal for us to concede so I was delighted that we got that break when Park Ji Sung scored.
"Tonight's game was a great advert for the Premier League - and I think it showed English teams always do well in Europe now because of the quality of the Premier League. I think we've hit our form now, I don't think there's any doubt about that."
Mexico striker Javier Hernandez was on target two minutes before half-time, sweeping in a low Ryan Giggs cross from the right, to put United ahead.
Chelsea suffered a further setback when Brazilian midfielder Ramires was sent off with 20 minutes to go, booked for the second time after a clumsy challenge from behind on Nani.
Drogba, a half-time substitute for Fernando Torres, struck with an emphatic finish in the 77th minute after controlling a Michael Essien pass on his chest to pull Chelsea level.
But South Korean midfielder Park hit back less than a minute later when he drove the ball home from the left of the box, with 37-year-old Giggs - who also set up Wayne Rooney's goal in the first leg - again the provider.
"It was a tough game tonight," said 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 said: "When we had good control of the game we were unable to score. We did well when we had 10 men but we were unable to score again. Manchester United deserved to win."
Messi's winner in Donetsk was his 48th goal for Barca in all competitions this season and makes him the competition's sole leading scorer.
Barca's other hero in the Donbass Arena was goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who kept the luckless Shakhtar forwards at bay.
"This is a difficult ground to come to because they are strong opponents," Valdez said. "But we are playing well, possibly better than in previous seasons at this stage."
Barcelona now look likely to meet Spanish rivals Real Madrid who take a 4-0 first-leg win over Tottenham Hotspur to White Hart Lane for the second-leg match Wednesday.
Messi meanwhile struck his ninth goal in 10 Champions League games as Barcelona followed up their 5-1 home victory over Shakthar Donetsk with a 1-0 win in Ukraine - setting up the prospects of a semi-final meeting with Spanish rivals Real Madrid.
United progress to their fourth semi-final in five seasons and a possible meeting with Germany's Schalke 04, who are 5-2 up on holders Inter Milan going into Wednesday's home second leg.
"It was a very, very good performance against a very good Chelsea side," United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said.
"Chelsea played a big part in the game and they really had a go at 1-0 down. But Drogba's goal was a cheap goal for us to concede so I was delighted that we got that break when Park Ji Sung scored.
"Tonight's game was a great advert for the Premier League - and I think it showed English teams always do well in Europe now because of the quality of the Premier League. I think we've hit our form now, I don't think there's any doubt about that."
Mexico striker Javier Hernandez was on target two minutes before half-time, sweeping in a low Ryan Giggs cross from the right, to put United ahead.
Chelsea suffered a further setback when Brazilian midfielder Ramires was sent off with 20 minutes to go, booked for the second time after a clumsy challenge from behind on Nani.
Drogba, a half-time substitute for Fernando Torres, struck with an emphatic finish in the 77th minute after controlling a Michael Essien pass on his chest to pull Chelsea level.
But South Korean midfielder Park hit back less than a minute later when he drove the ball home from the left of the box, with 37-year-old Giggs - who also set up Wayne Rooney's goal in the first leg - again the provider.
"It was a tough game tonight," said 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 said: "When we had good control of the game we were unable to score. We did well when we had 10 men but we were unable to score again. Manchester United deserved to win."
Messi's winner in Donetsk was his 48th goal for Barca in all competitions this season and makes him the competition's sole leading scorer.
Barca's other hero in the Donbass Arena was goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who kept the luckless Shakhtar forwards at bay.
"This is a difficult ground to come to because they are strong opponents," Valdez said. "But we are playing well, possibly better than in previous seasons at this stage."
Barcelona now look likely to meet Spanish rivals Real Madrid who take a 4-0 first-leg win over Tottenham Hotspur to White Hart Lane for the second-leg match Wednesday.
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