Rooney gives United hope

SOCCER/Uefa Champions League semi-final: Manchester Utd 3, AC Milan 2Manchester United guaranteed a thrilling night at San Siro next week and their players will tingle with the memory of this wonderful win. They had been 2-1 down and in a state of dismay before a comeback completed 15 seconds into stoppage time. Wayne Rooney plucked his second goal of the night by lashing Ryan Giggs' pass first time to find the net at the near post.

United have genuine hopes of reaching the Champions League final because the scintillating Kaka, who scored twice last night, cannot always atone for Milan's faults.

After all the justified apprehension over United's makeshift back four it was ironic that it should be the visitors' defence that soon buckled.

The fault was Dida's as, in the sixth minute, the goalkeeper tried to parry Cristiano Ronaldo's header from a Giggs corner and pushed the ball into his own net.

That start was reminiscent of the 7-1 mauling of Roma, but the resemblance with the quarter-final tie stopped there.

An ageing Milan team have experience in proportion to their years and while the gusto of United flustered them a little the nerves were steady enough and Kaka, with two goals before the interval, glowed with virtuosity.

Alex Ferguson's 4-2-3-1 system repeated the strategy that had been devastating against Roma and its advantages were clear even if the outcome could not be so devastating so immediately.

For contrasting reasons there was a commitment to adventure. That philosophy comes naturally to Ferguson's team and Milan, for their part, saw the benefit of probing a United defence shorn of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

The Premiership team were the more insistent and Milan, for all their know-how, did not show the smug certainty expected of their covering. That was as far as the cheerful news went prior to the interval.

Despite all the hope Ferguson had expressed beforehand, it turned out that problems at the back cannot be shrugged off against opponents so confident in their finesse. With 22 minutes gone Kaka broke away from Michael Carrick to take Clarence Seedorf's pass before Gabriel Heinze could reach him and glide a low finish into the far corner of the net.

The United manager had far less reason to pardon the Brazilian's next goal 15 minutes later. Kaka was outnumbered as he chased the ball down the right, but he slipped inside Darren Fletcher and got away from Heinze, who was then flattened by a frantic Patrice Evra.

That mayhem was no distraction to the Milan midfielder as he tucked a shot behind Edwin van der Sar.

That was all infuriating for Ferguson, who must have devoted more thought to the threat of Kaka than any other aspect of the fixture. With the lone striker Alberto Gilardino again unimpressive, the real source of menace was entirely obvious yet it could not be staunched. With Milan in the lead through two away goals, United's own creativity had not been rewarded.

Yet it had been imposing on occasion. In the 14th minute, Fletcher had picked out Giggs fastidiously on the right and the ball that the Welshman pulled back into the path of Carrick was smacked firmly, only for Dida to push it past a post.

A rather severe booking of Evra for a foul on Massimo Oddo late in the first-half means that the left-back will miss the second leg through suspension. United's priority was to ensure that they could go to Milan with some semblance of hope.

There was encouragement in the difficulties that Carlo Ancelotti was experiencing. The veteran captain Paolo Maldini had to be replaced by Daniele Bonera for the second-half and an injury meant that the terrier Gennaro Gattuso soon gave way to Cristian Brocchi.

United, however, did not immediately come to their own aid and an unmarked Carrick volleyed wide from a Giggs corner in the 48th minute.

That paved the way for a misleading period in which Milan appeared capable of outclassing Ferguson's men. One surging move was capped with a one-two between Kaka and Clarence Seedorf that ended with the Brazilian volleying high. He had constantly escaped into space despite a system in which Fletcher or Carrick should have been policing him.

United, better at plundering than they are at guarding, returned to level terms in the 59th minute. Paul Scholes squeezed a pass through and Rooney, onside by a whisker, controlled it with his chest before beating Dida.

Within five minutes the goalkeeper had to stretch to put a shot from Fletcher round a post.

The situation was too tense for United to show the swagger that broke the spirit of Roma, but they were hunting victory and they got it at the last.

United, though, thanks to the irrepressible Rooney, did enough to ensure that their hopes of reaching the final are alive in Milan next Wednesday.

MANCHESTER UTD:Van der Sar, O'Shea, Brown, Heinze, Evra, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs. Subs not used: Kuszczak, Smith, Solskjaer, Dong, Richardson, Eagles, Lee. Booked: Evra, Giggs.

AC MILAN:Dida, Oddo, Nesta, Maldini (Bonera 46), Jankulovski, Gattuso (Brocchi 52), Pirlo, Ambrosini, Seedorf, Kaka, Gilardino (Gourcuff 84). Subs not used: Kalac, Cafu, Inzaghi, Favalli. Booked: Kaka, Bonera.

Referee:Kyros Vassaras (Greece).