Hernandez relieves the strain

Manchester Utd 2 Olympique Marseille 1:MANCHESTER UNITED reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a sense of strain that was relieved only by the full-time whistle.

When they led 2-0 the work seemed to have been completed, but this was far from club’s best line-up and when Wes Brown, under pressure from his former team-mate Gabriel Heinze, headed into his own net with eight minutes remaining they were a goal away from elimination.

Anyone in the crowd who had begun to get a little bored by the technically efficient yet ineffective work of Marseille had their interest awakened. The extended stoppage time was a particular trial on a disrupted occasion when right-back John O’Shea and then his replacement Rafael da Silva both went off through injury. The soothing effect of Javier Hernandez, whose two goals took his tally to five in the past five appearances, was precious and his selection instead of Dimitar Berbatov proved the key element.

Nemanja Vidic’s unavailability because of a calf injury meant there was no tone of reassurance at the core of the defence since Rio Ferdinand continues to be sidelined. Alex Ferguson had little option but to field Chris Smalling and Brown together even though they had recently floundered in the 3-1 defeat at Anfield. Such circumstances indicated that it would be even more prudent than usual to take the game to the opposition as forcefully as possible. The visitors soon felt the impact.

Wayne Rooney found Ryan Giggs in the fifth minute and he continued the move with a low cross from the left that was turned in by Hernandez. The scorer was booked for a foul on Heinze. There was tension in the air and the visitors could have been level a little later had Andre-Pierre Gignac not shot wildly after being sent clear by a header from Andre Ayew.

That sort of incident would have been disquieting enough in itself but it was also a reminder the make-up of the United defence was not as Ferguson would have wished. In the period before the interval, the hosts were slightly more conservative while Marseille started to probe a little and started to get a response from the centre-forward Gignac.

Despite that, Didier Deschamps’ line-up seemed then to suffer from the same blandness that had afflicted them at the Velodrome. They did have one wonderful opportunity in the first half when the centre-half Souleymane Diawara, unmarked behind Paul Scholes, headed wide from Taye Taiwo’s cross after 36 minutes. At that moment, however, O’Shea was down with a hamstring injury that would see him replaced by Rafael da Silva.

The contest, unusually, was both tense and entertaining.

While there had been no panic from Smalling or Brown, the remainder of the line-up could not fail to have some sense of inhibition. Full-blooded attack was not advisable when maintaining cover in defence seemed so important. In contrast, Marseille had no option but to be bold. The trait had not looked to be in their character at all in the first leg, yet they had noticed possibilities for them in this game.

The attritional tone of the fixture was apparent when Da Silva seemed to be affected, like O’Shea before him. Despite the attempt to continue he, too, had to give way eventually, as his brother Fabio da Silva took the field. There had also been a voluntary alteration, with Ferguson turning to the running power of Antonio Valencia.

United’s principal encouragement lay in the hope that Marseille, punchless in the majority of the tie, would not land a real blow in the last quarter-of-an-hour.

Whatever Ferguson’s scheme had been, his players looked inhibited by the fact that their advantage was slim. There was no sense, in a disrupted line-up, that they would attack Deschamps’ side with verve.

No one at all was at ease and Mathieu Valbuena had no sooner been introduced than he was shown a yellow card. There was no ease until United extended the lead in the 76th minute. It was done, despite all the strain, with finesse.

Valencia fed a well-weighted pass through on the right and Giggs crossed low for Hernandez to score once again. It had been a night of tension, but the incisiveness of United proved a quality that put them beyond the reach of these opponents.

Guardian Service

MANCHESTER UTD: Van der Sar, O'Shea (Rafael Da Silva 36), Smalling, Brown, Evra, Nani (Valencia 61), Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Hernandez, Rooney, Rafael Da Silva (Fabio Da Silva 69). Subs not used: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Obertan, Gibson. Booked: Hernandez.

OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE: Mandanda, Fanni, Heinze, Diawara, Taiwo, M'bia Etoundi (Jordan Ayew 80), Cheyrou, Remy, Gonzalez, Andre Ayew, Gignac (Valbuena 69). Subs not used: Andrade, Hilton, Cisse, Kabore, Abriel. Booked: Valbuena, Remy.

Referee: Carlos Carballo(Madrid).