Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Ronaldo paces United to European Final


Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and created another goal as Manchester United booked their place in the UEFA Champions League final with a 3-1 victory over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

Much of the damage was done inside the opening 11 minutes as United, leading 1-0 from the first leg, scored early goals through Park Ji-sung and Cristiano Ronaldo.

United knew that scoring one goal would leave Arsenal needing three and it took just eight minutes for them to break the deadlock, Park capitalising on a slip from Kieran Gibbs to fire home Ronaldo's cut-back.

Ronaldo then silenced the home crowd and effectively killed off the contest three minutes later with a ferocious free-kick from distance that beat a despairing Manuel Almunia.
The defending European champions remained in complete control and Ronaldo made it 3-0 on the night in the 61st minute following a lightning-quick counter-attack involving Park and Wayne Rooney.

There was some disappointment for United when Darren Fletcher was shown a straight red card on 75 minutes despite appearing to have won the ball from Cesc Fabregas with a fair tackle.

A penalty was awarded and Robin van Persie converted his chance emphatically, but there was never any chance of a fightback and United held on to claim a 4-1 aggregate success.

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