Champions League - United overwhelm Arsenal

Eurosport - Wed, 06 May 11:13:00 2009

Manchester United booked their place in the Champions League final thanks to two early goals against Arsenal at the Emirates which helped them to a 4-1 aggregate victory.

FOOTBALL Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his side's second goal against Arsenal at the Emirates in the Champions League semi-final second leg - 0

Ji-Sung Park's eighth minute opener and Cristiano Ronaldo's 11th-minute free kick put the tie almost beyond the home side in the opening few minutes, while Ronaldo's second just after the hour mark put things beyond doubt.

Robin Van Persie's late penalty gave the home side a consolation goal in a 3-1 scoreline on the night - but Darren Fletcher's red card in the spot kick incident took the shine off a superb night for United.

The home fans' raucous cheering had helped boost their team to a lively start in the first five minutes, but optimism quickly turned to gloom for the Gunners when Kieran Gibbs slipped in the box to allow Ji-Sung Park to slot home the opening goal on eight minutes.

The goal gave the visitors a commanding 2-0 aggregate lead that meant Arsenal needed to score an improbable three goals; yet just three minutes later, the highly improbable target of three became all-but-impossible four as Cristiano Ronaldo fired in a 41-yard free kick that beat Manuel Almunia purely for pace.

The stunned Arsenal team now faced not so much an uphill battle as an assault on the north face of Everest, but United clearly had no intention of resting on their lead.

Instead, their fluid passing and movement allowed the hosts little time on the ball, and their tireless closing-down of the gutsy Arsenal attack force meant that every time the Gunners managed to find the door slightly ajar it was quickly slammed in their faces.

And with the sound of the visiting fans' victory chants filling the Emirates already, it was United who came closest to adding to the scoring in the remainder of the first half. Rooney's 18th minute strike forced Almunia to tip the ball around the post, and Ronaldo's powerfully-struck 32nd minute free kick was well held by the keeper.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger seemed unwilling to make drastic changes to chase the game at half-time, and after the re-start it was United who continued to look the more likely to score.

Ronaldo's left-foot effort demanded a terrific save from Almunia on 52 minutes as the visitors seemed comfortably in control, and as the hour mark loomed the Arsenal tactics finally opened up a little.

Yet as they did so, United struck again: Ronaldo released Park from an Arsenal corner, who charged up field and released Rooney on the left.

The England striker, who was playing as a left-winger on the night, released the flying Ronaldo down the centre with a perfectly-weighted ball, and the world player of the year made no mistake in burying the ball in the roof of the net with unstoppable power.

With the tie decided beyond any doubt, the pace of the game died down in the final 20 minutes, though to their credit Arsenal continued to push hard for a consolation strike with Samir Nasri and Van Persie particularly effective.

And it was the latter's run on to a ball into the box which saw Fletcher sent off: the defender's lunging challenge from behind sent the Dutchman flying on the edge of the six-yard box. Though it was a highly-risky tackle, replays showed that Fletcher had made contact with the ball - yet the referee sent him off and he will miss the final.

Van Persie converted the penalty brilliantly, yet it was purely academic and none of the Arsenal players even bothered to make the usual show of clamouring to pick the ball out and rush to get the game restarted.

The sides played out the remainder of the match in relative calm, and though Emmanuel Adebayor had half-chances in the final few minutes the affair had begun to take on all the urgency of a training match.

For Arsenal, the result ended their hopes of lifting a first trophy since 2005.

For United, a superb performance over the two legs will give them every hope of becoming the first side to retain the Champions League trophy.

Toby Keel / Eurosport

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  1. ronaldo is brilliant actor

    From man, on Sun 10 May 12:37PM

  2. aah, oh well
    spilt milk
    chelsea on sunday
    we need­ secure cl place next year.

    From famrich5, on Thu 7 May 6:20PM

  3. ronaldo is just brilliant.am an asernal fan but his­ first goal was really a knock out.how i wish wenger­ will get such a player maker and match winner

    From efozia, on Thu 7 May 1:50PM

  4. Plattini is the worst thing that ever happened to UEFA­ in terms of administration.i just dont know his problem­ with the English game.we should stop making­ 'gods' out of referees who blatantly decide to­ mare the beauty of the game we all love.am not a­ chelsea fan but i must say from tuesday to wednesday­ the game has been put to disrupute by so called­ 'gods' of the game.but manchester united would­ put that plattini to shame.Manchester united forever

    From FunkyChickBaybee, on Thu 7 May 11:51AM

  5. Darren Fletcher didn't deserve to be sent off and­ Arsenal didn't deserve even a consolation goal.­ Hope United beat Barcelona in the final, c'mon Man­ U!

    From natman1996, on Wed 6 May 9:52PM

  6. We were outplayed and outclassed by United and thats­ the truth. Fergie got it right from the start of the­ first leg and we were powerless to resist. We live in­ the hope that next season we'll do better and this­ is not cool. Full respect to Manchester. Ronaldo is a­ mug for shooting from 41-yards out but I guess thats­ what makes him the Prem's Most loved hated player

    From Av3ng3r, on Wed 6 May 9:08PM

  7. young kieran gibbs will improve they say the young­ improve faster. he is a skilled player although­ yesterdays slip has obviousley given him bad press and­ a low profile but if he improves he can prove the media­ wrong and become a great player

    From smiley123, on Wed 6 May 6:54PM

  8. where is rosicky?

    From scotty, on Wed 6 May 5:57PM

  9. Did noone notice why Gibbs slipped? The pull back pass­ to Park was brilliant and fooled more than the full­ back

    From domani, on Wed 6 May 5:42PM

  10. I have said it and it comes to past,i said man.u will­ beat arsenal at home but i dont know the margin,We guys­ will now see why i keep telling you that we will­ separate men from the bozy men are playing for trophy­ while bozy are playing to become men and then win­ trophy.i also said cl is a diff.ball game from epl­ there is a way good coaches play cl and get it done­ they are not many very few and some are lucky to be­ there not to mention­ mmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.uuuuuuuuuu ­ 4life your two trophies are right there waiting for you­ just you man.u 4life

    From oyedeji, on Wed 6 May 4:54PM

  11. Two straight sets out of two. The third set is coming­ at Old Trafford in about a week and half from now. The­ expected result? Your guess is as good as mine. What a­ match. That small boy saw Park and he was confused. He­ expected to see Ronaldo but suddenly saw Park. Who is­ this? A Japanese, Chinese or Korean? He fainted. He­ woke up to see the ball in the net. Poor boy. His kicks­ were never the same again until the first half ended­ when he had to beg Wenger he should be relieved of his­ duty. Wenger promised to make Man U regret not­ finishing the job at Old Trafford. Promise unfulfilled.­ Arsenal should learn to play the ball on the field and­ never with the mouth. Another trophy(less) season? What­ next?

    CALEB AROGUNDADE

    From Caleb, on Wed 6 May 4:24PM

  12. yes d red devils were superb. however,my love for the­ Blues remains
    as we battle it out tonight. please Blues­ dont make ME CRY for u have all
    it takes. man to man,­ foot 4 foot, head to head and strength 4­ strength.
    PATRICK OKEKE

    From okekechief2000, on Wed 6 May 3:49PM

  13. all it is is trophies trophies trophies, but no-one­ stops and looks at the good side of arsenal. Yes there­ is one.
    Also, overwhelm is a strong word.
    Personally,­ nothing positive should be associated with man­ u.
    HA
    Arsenal Fan
    Fab Fabregas

    From famrich5, on Wed 6 May 3:40PM

  14. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP

    ALL MATCHES ON­ INTERNET: PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, CHAMPIONSHIP,­ CARLING CUP, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA, CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP AND MUCH MORE

    ALL THE HIGH LIGHTS­ OF PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES

    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Wed 6 May 2:56PM

  15. ARSENAL HAVE REBUILT WELL AND STILL HAVE A YOUNG TEAM­ ,THEY WILL BE IN THE MIX NEXT YEAR IT SHOULD BE A VERY­ COMPETITIVE LEAGUE NEXT YEAR BOTH CHAMPIONS AND­ PREMIERSHIP ,MAN U WILL WIN BOTH REMAINING COMPETITIONS­ NOW AS ARSENAL DONT SEEM TO HAVE ENOUGH TO STOP THEM­ AND LETS FACE IT WHO ELSE WILL THEYRE TO STRONG ,BUT­ NEXT YEAR MAY BE DIFFERENT WITH TEVEZ AND POSSIBLY­ RONALDO LIKELY TO LEAVE ,DESPITE WHAT HE SAYS ,I­ SUSPECT HIS MAIN LOYALTY IS TO HIMSELF AND IF THE RIGHT­ OFFER COMES FROM MADRID IT WILL BE ASTA LA HUEGO MAN U

    From paddypgreenstreet, on Wed 6 May 2:21PM

  16. Great game yesterday! Big up man u! But honestly i was­ disappointed with Arsenal's performance. It was not­ just the Arsenal we all know; young, old, kids or­ adults, they have only themselves to blame. Man U 4­ life!!!!!!!

    From Abubakar Sadiq, on Wed 6 May 2:16PM

  17. ARSENAL HAVE REBUILT WELL AND STILL HAVE A YOUNG TEAM­ ,THEY WILL BE IN THE MIX NEXT YEAR IT SHOULD BE A VERY­ COMPETITIVE LEAGUE NEXT YEAR BOTH CHAMPIONS AND­ PREMIERSHIP ,MAN U WILL WIN BOTH REMAINING COMPETITIONS­ NOW AS ARSENAL DONT SEEM TO HAVE ENOUGH TO STOP THEM­ AND LETS FACE IT WHO ELSE WILL THEYRE TO STRONG ,BUT­ NEXT YEAR MAY BE DIFFERENT WITH TEVEZ AND POSSIBLY­ RONALDO LIKELY TO LEAVE ,DESPITE WHAT HE SAYS ,I­ SUSPECT HIS MAIN LOYALTY IS TO HIMSELF AND IF THE RIGHT­ OFFER COMES FROM MADRID IT WILL BE ASTA LA HUEGO MAN U

    From paddypgreenstreet, on Wed 6 May 2:11PM

  18. See how frustrated Wenger was during the game. He knew­ he has no one to blame but himself. He destroyed the­ team. By letting Helb and Flamini go last season, he­ is lucky Arsenal can still compete in CL next season.­ While Giggs is celebrating his 800 games with MU, won­ the PFA award and tracing for quadble, Arsenal should­ ask themselves whether their policy is correct or not.­ Loyalty is a 2 ways street. It is not just player is­ loyal to the team but whether the team wants to keep­ player.
    Wenger blindly believes his view of obtaining­ young talent players but those talent players need time­ to settle. If he builds on last year team, Arsenal­ would be a much better team. However, he took apart the­ midfield and see how Fabregas performs this season. He­ is not the same player as last season.
    To rebuild the­ team and get more experience players, Arsenal may end­ up spending more money than simply keeping Helb and­ Flamini. What a short-sighted team.

    From Howard, on Wed 6 May 2:02PM

  19. Arsenal fans! stop and ask Wenger "WHAT HAVE YOU­ DONE FOR US LATELY?" Five whole seasons without a­ Trophy.

    From james, on Wed 6 May 1:56PM

  20. tonight the barca team will destroy the aged pensioners­ of chelsea...after alll they kept chelsea down and­ only need an away goal...cant see petty cheque not scr­ e wing up can you?ole blackberry head,lampost and terry­ will be whinging before ,during and after....even­ pampers are better than terrys..as all new mums will­ tell you !

    From stuart, on Wed 6 May 1:29PM
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