Manchester United 4-1 Schalke (agg. 6-1): Red Devils put on attacking masterclass to join Barcelona in Wembley final

Posted Thursday, May 05, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Manchester United coasted through to a Champions League final meeting with Barcelona after dismantling Schalke 4-1 at Old Trafford.

Antonio Valencia opened the scoring in the 26th minute before Darren Gibson doubled the home side's lead five minutes later.

Jose Manuel Jurado's fierce effort in the 35th minute gave the travelling contingent hope but United grabbed their third when Anderson netted on 72 minutes. The Brazilian grabbed his second of the game four minutes later to round off a convincing semi-final victory.

The result, combined with the Red Devils' 2-0 victory in Gelsenkirchen ensures the English club reach Europe's showcase event for the fifth time in their illustrious history.

Schalke started brightly and created the first real opportunity of the game in the eighth minute. The marauding right-back Atsuto Uchida found Jefferson Farfan in space who could only screw his low effort from the edge of the box narrowly wide.

After a sluggish start, Manchester United started to get a hold of the ball and put the tie beyond doubt on 26 minutes. Darren Gibson found Antonio Valencia with a perfectly weighted through ball who slotted home between Manuel Neuer's legs from 15 yards to give the English club a 3-0 aggregate lead.

The Red Devils doubled their lead five minutes later with Sir Alex Ferguson's men cruising. Valencia appeared to miscontrol the ball on the edge of the box only for it to fall to Gibson 20 yards out who struck a powerful effort that Neuer could only parry onto the post and into the net.

However, Ralf Rangnick's men made an almost instant reply on 35 minutes to make it 2-1 in the night. Uchida's cross into the box was only half-cleared by Jonny Evans who let the ball fall to Jose Manuel Jurado 15 yards out with the Spaniard drilling the ball high past Edwin van der Sar.

United came close to restoring its two-goal lead on the night a minute later when Nani found Valencia in space on the right side of the Schalke area. The Ecuadorian winger side-stepped Neuer but his shot was brilliantly cleared off the line by Benedikt Howedes.

The second half began with neither side looking dominant although the home team came very close to adding a third in the 55th minute. Dimitar Berbatov cut the ball back to Anderson on the edge of the area who struck a ferocious effort towards the top corner. However, Neuer showed some of the form he displayed in the first-leg, acrobatically turning the ball around the post.

Ferguson's men put the game to bed on 72 minutes when Anderson scored a rare goal for the 18-time Premier League champions. Nani's precise cross into the box fell to the feet of the Brazilian midfielder who showed great perseverance to stick the ball in the back of the net from eight yards despite originally losing his feet.

Four minutes later Anderson doubled his tally for the night and his overall tally for United. Berbatov raced clear down the right before laying the ball to the former Porto man who made no mistake in scoring from a few yards out to give his side a resounding second lef victory.

United will now face Barcelona on May 28 at Wembley where it will be hoping to revenge their 2-0 defeat in the Champions League final two years ago.