UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG Schalke 04 0 Manchester Utd 2:MANCHESTER UNITED look assured of their place in a Champions League final for the third time in four seasons. The sheer superiority shown here would make victory for Schalke seem impossible in the return at Old Trafford, let alone by a two-goal margin.
As second-half scorers, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney epitomised most of all the know-how built up in this group.
It is also true they can be glad to have been presented with Schalke. Better to have Barcelona and Real Madrid tearing at one another this week while United savour their own work.
United, indeed, could conserve energy next week that will be required for the Premier League run-in. Schalke had intermittent attacks but the greater technical ability and experience in the visiting ranks were not to be denied.
United are now thoroughly acquainted with the advanced stages of the competition. It was Schalke who froze or simply found themselves outmatched. Goals had been relatively hard to come by for United of late but opportunities were not lacking here. Converting them was the tricky business in those opening 45 minutes.
If United seemed entirely assured, it owed much to familiarity with these nights and their demands. The starting line-up varied by one name from the selection for the victory at Chelsea in the quarter-final. Even that adjustment could be deemed invisible since the Da Silva brothers are identical twins. It was Fabio who made the side here, at right back.
The identity of United’s defenders was not a topic for urgent discussion when the side enjoyed such command that the presence in the opposition ranks of a striker as admired as Raul Gonzalez almost passed unnoticed.
The Schalke support had their eyes and hopes pinned on the goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. They applauded him as he left the pitch at the interval, despite the disgruntlement over his expected move to Bayern Munich in the summer.
There was oddity in seeing the centre half Nemanja Vidic stay upfield and deliver a cross from which Giggs tested Neuer from a corner. The hungriest United figure was Javier Hernandez. His eagerness to score entailed excellent movement and Schalke were left appealing without cause when Park Ji-sung put him clear in the 14th minute. The angle was tight, however, and Neuer dealt with it.
There is an enigmatic trait to Schalke, even if it was emphatic performances that startled a continent when they dispatched the holders Internazionale 7-3 on aggregate in the last round. Despite that dazzling show they are still settling down under new coach Ralf Rangnick. In addition, the true nature of their line-up and strengths are open to debate.
Once the effort has been made to set aside the drubbing of Inter, it is possible to recognise Schalke as a capable side who are fairly balanced.
In the group phase the opposition scored against them three times but two of those were consolation goals in defeats. In the knockout phase, however, they had failed to keep a clean sheet in all four matches that preceded this one.
Even so Alex Ferguson may not have been faking it when he expressed some unease about Schalke. The triumph over Bayern Munich in the 1999 European Cup final has been followed by troubled encounters for United with German teams. This is neither coincidence nor curse. The Bundesliga culture may differ from the manic and materialistic climate of the Premier League but it is still potent.
Perhaps it was spirit that kept them going in the first half, when a range of chances ended with a marginally miscalculated attempt or a response from Neuer. The goalkeeper, in different moments, had even denied a header and a shot by Giggs, who was nominally a holding midfielder.
United may have lacked a goal in those 45 minutes but the craving seemed only to have intensified when the game resumed. The action had barely restarted when his cross allowed Michael Carrick a header that Neuer reached. Within moments Giggs himself sent a raking effort beyond the far past.
It would be the persistent Welshman who put his side into the lead after 67 minutes. He was released by an excellent reverse pass from Rooney and slipped home the finish with ease. Two minutes later Rooney himself extended the advantage by capitalising alertly after a run by Hernandez.
Anticlimax had become inevitable for the hosts. This is a large stadium in the Ruhr, an area with the type of industrial history that often gives rise to a populace besotted with football.
The people in the ground wanted to register their presence as a force but mostly had to make a noise out of the pride that the heritage creates. The Champions League had all but ended for them.
Guardian Service
SCHALKE 04: Neuer, Uchida, Matip, Metzelder, Sarpei (Escudero 72), Farfan, Papadopoulos, Jurado (Draxler 82), Baumjohann (Kluge 53), Raul, Edu. Subs not used: Schober, Plestan, Charisteas, Karimi. Booked: Metzelder, Sarpei.
MANCHESTER UTD: Van der Sar, Fabio Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Park (Scholes 73), Rooney (Nani 83), Hernandez (Anderson 73). Subs not used: Kuszczak, Smalling, Rafael Da Silva, Evans. Booked: Fabio Da Silva.
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo(Madrid).
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