A stunning 40-yard goal from Cristiano Ronaldo was enough to see Manchester United past FC Porto and into last four of the Champions League at the Estádio do Dragão.
FC Porto 0-1 Manchester United
A stunning 40-yard goal from Cristiano Ronaldo was enough to see Manchester United past FC Porto and into last four of the Champions League at the Estádio do Dragão.
The visitors got off to a dream start through Ronaldo’s goal on just six minutes and spurned a golden opportunity to score a second through Nemanja Vidic just before half-time.
The second half was a much better one for Porto as they had more of the play, but they struggled to create many clear opportunities and United held firm to progress.
The Red Devils now meet Arsenal in the semi-finals after the Gunners defeated Villarreal in the night’s other quarter-final tie.
United made four changes from the side that started the 2-2 first leg draw at Old Trafford. Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park and Jonny Evans all made way with Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand coming in.
Porto, on the other hand, kept the same starting XI who impressed in that match with their coach, Jesualdo Ferreira subject of a touchline ban.
The visitors got off to a dream start in the sixth minute through a magical goal from Ronaldo. The World Player of the Year controlled a pass from Anderson a full 40 yards out, took aim, and smashed a shot past helpless home goalkeeper Helton into the top corner.
Bruno Alves had Porto’s best effort of the early stages - just missing the target with a 30-yard free-kick on 20 minutes that had van der Sar scampering across his goal-line in an attempt to cover.
The Portuguese side came close again five minutes later as they began to get a foothold in the game. Lisandro López swivelled and shot straight at van der Sar after being fed by Cristian Rodriguez inside the United penalty box.
Alves had another chance when he headed Raul Meireles’ free-kick narrowly wide, before Lucho Gonzalez was substituted due to an injury as United rounded off the half with two good opportunities.
First, Berbatov found space on the right and sent in a cross that found Giggs at back post. The Welshman’s well-timed volley was fumbled initially by Helton before the Brazilian gathered at the second attempt.
The Red Devils had a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0 a minute before the half-time interval. It fell to Vidic after John O’Shea had flicked on Giggs’ near post corner, but the Serbian defender could only divert the ball over the crossbar from close-range.
After the break, Meireles came close for the hosts as he shot just wide from the edge of the area after Patrice Evra lost possession, before Hulk struck a free-kick straight into the arms of van der Sar from a promising position.
The home side huffed and puffed but were struggling to create clear goal-scoring opportunities and United were happy to soak up the pressure and attempt to counter-attack when the chance to do so presented itself, with Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney coming close with late long-range attempts.
They did have to survive two scares before the end, though. In the 78th minute, Porto defender Rolando saw his header fall just wide after escaping attentions of O’Shea from Meireles’ corner, which van der Sar had mis-judged the flight of.
Then, on 85 minutes, substitute Mariano Gonzalez sent a low cross into the congested United box to give López the chance to shoot from 10 yards. However, the Argentinean could not generate enough power on his effort and the Red Devils held on for victory.
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