A second-string Manchester United cruised into a dream Champions League final against Barcelona on Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over German side Schalke 04.
Leading 2-0 after the first leg, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson could afford to make nine changes to his starting line-up and still see his team qualify for the May 28 final at Wembley with something to spare.
The unlikely hero was United’s much-maligned Irish international Darron Gibson, who set up Antonio Valencia with a magnificent pass for the first goal on 26 minutes before hammering in the second on 31 minutes.
Photo: AFP
Jose Manuel Jurado pulled a goal back for Schalke, but there was only ever going to be one outcome and two second-half goals from Anderson completed a crushing 6-1 aggregate victory for the English giants.
The result put United into their third Champions League final in four years, and gives Ferguson’s side the chance to avenge their loss to Barcelona in the 2009 final in Rome.
Delighted United keeper Edwin van der Sar said United would relish the opportunity to have another crack at Barcelona.
“We have to make sure we learned our lessons and that we’re better prepared this time than we were last time,” van der Sar told ITV.
The Wembley final will be 40-year-old van der Sar’s last in a United jersey before he retires.
“To play at Wembley, it’s going to be a great game and hopefully a better outcome than the last time, otherwise it’s going to be a terrible feeling,” he added.
The win also handed Ferguson the perfect fillip ahead of this weekend’s Premier League battle with Chelsea, a high-stakes encounter that may well settle the outcome of the title race.
A slow start saw Schalke have the first half-chance of the night after only seven minutes, Jefferson Farfan sending a low shot fizzing just wide of the upright after seven minutes.
However, once United settled into their rhythm, the writing was on the wall as Schalke’s defense found themselves struggling to cope with the movement and speed of the home team’s wide players, Valencia and Nani.
United might have had a goal on 21 minutes, but Dimitar Berbatov’s low cross was easily cut out by Benedikt Howedes with Chris Smalling lurking unmarked.
Yet United did not have to wait long for their opener, Gibson threading an exquisite ball through to release Valcencia, who calmly finished past Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer midway through the half.
It got better for Gibson five minutes later when his thunderous low shot from the edge of the area beat Neuer, who should have done better, and flew in off the post to make it 2-0 and effectively kill the tie.
It was a personal triumph for Gibson, who last week closed his account on micro-blogging site Twitter after only two hours after being subjected to a torrent of disparaging abuse from United fans.
Schalke were given a glimmer of hope on 35 minutes when Smalling conceded possession cheaply and the ball ended up at the feet of Jurado, who lashed a fierce shot beyond van der Sar.
Even then, United might have stretched their lead by half-time, Valencia ghosting past his marker and Neuer only for his goal-bound shot to be cleared off the line by Howedes.
A fractious finish to the half saw United concede three yellow cards in quick succession, Gibson, Scholes and Anderson all picking up cautions for rash challenges.
United’s dominance continued after the break.
Schalke had Neuer to thank once again for preventing a third goal, the German international diving at full stretch to tip an Anderson shot wide.
Anderson made it 3-1 on the night after 72 minutes, capitalizing on a surging run from Nani before netting his second four minutes later, tapping in from close range after good work from Valencia and Berbatov.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier