SOCCER/ UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL, SECOND LEG: Porto 0 Manchester Utd 1 Man Utd won 3-2 on agg : IT WAS a match which could have been portrayed as a moment for verve and risk-taking by Manchester United. Instead they went methodically about the business of becoming the first English club to beat Porto on their own ground in European competition.
The statistic is no prize in itself and United were really intent on displaying their command after being held at home.
Spectacle was confined to a remarkable goal from Cristiano Ronaldo. United flaunted maturity, showing that they did understand how to keep this fixture under control, despite the stresses when a late leveller would have eliminated them. Few hints of nervousness were glimpsed. The victors may feel in better condition now to make a successful defence of the Champions League, even if they will have to deal with a reviving Arsenal in the semi-final.
Alex Ferguson’s side arrived at Estadio do Dragao with the intention of introducing themselves. Porto, after all, had not come across the true United at Old Trafford. The visitors opened with a purpose and freshness that had barely been visible at all in the first leg.
That was troubling enough for Jesualdo Ferreira’s team, but they could not have guessed just how spectacularly United would unsettle them. For all their acquaintance with him, the rest of the squad cannot have been prepared for the exquisite improbability of Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener in the sixth minute.
He connected so cleanly from an angle on the right that the drive from 40 yards was a hopeless case for the Porto goalkeeper, Helton, as it soared across him and into the top corner.
The Portuguese champions then played as if disbelief was still clouding their minds. They would also have been rueful about Ronaldo. The attacker had typified some of United’s worst traits during the first leg. His petulance and lack of application encouraged Porto then. Ferguson’s solution to that was interesting.
A decision to employ Ronaldo as the lone striker heaped responsibility on him. He responded to it and even harassed Helton into conceding a corner on one occasion.
A shaken Porto did rally somewhat and Cristian Rodriguez ought to have asked far more of Edwin van der Sar after an opening had been made for him in the 25th minute. Lucho, so influential at Old Trafford, was hurt here and had to make way for Mariano.
The visitors, of course, had no need to swagger over being 1-0 ahead. United understood perfectly well that a leveller would put Porto ahead on the away-goals rule. Such a turn of events was well within the scope of a side that had, predictably, been endowed with fresh conviction at the interval.
Efforts that missed the target still stirred the crowd. Patrice Evra then committed an ungainly foul close to his 18-yard line. The set piece came to nothing, but Porto gained some conviction.
Ferguson took off a rather passive Dimitar Berbatov so that Nani could force the opposition to deal with a different sort of attacker. With the score stuck at 1-0, the tension could only mount on a night when the outcome of the tie hung in the balance.
Guardian Service
FC PORTO: Helton, Sapunaru (Costa 80), Rolando, Bruno Alves, Cissokho, Lucho Gonzalez (Mariano Gonzalez 31), Fernando, Raul Meireles, Lopez, Hulk, Rodriguez (Farias 64). Subs Not Used: Nuno, Stepanov, Guarin, Madrid.
MAN UTD: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Carrick, Anderson (Scholes 78), Rooney, Berbatov (Nani 68), Ronaldo. Subs Not Used: Foster, Neville, Evans, Tevez, Macheda. Booked: Vidic, Evra. Goals: Ronaldo 6.
Referee: Massimo Busacca(Switzerland).
