United beats Schalke 2-0 in CL semi

Football

Published: 27 Apr. 2011, 20:05

United beats Schalke 2-0 in CL semi

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney celebrates his goal against Schalke during their first leg semi-final Champions League football match in Gelsenkirchen, Tuesday. United beat Schalke 2-0 [REUTERS/YONHAP]

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany - Wayne Rooney set up one goal and scored another two minutes later to help Manchester United to a convincing 2-0 victory over Schalke in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Tuesday.

Ryan Giggs scored in the 67th minute from Rooney’s pass and Rooney himself netted in the two minutes later after United had wasted a dozen chances against the unheralded German side.

“We have to say without envy that we never had a grip on the game except for the first 15 minutes,” Schalke defender Christoph Metzelder said. “We were clearly outplayed.”

Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a string of fine saves to keep his team in the match for more than an hour despite strong pressure by United, which now looks set to reach the May 28 final at Wembley against either Real Madrid or Barcelona, barring an upset next week in the second leg at Old Trafford.

Neuer’s heroics prevented United from scoring earlier but in the 67th minute he was finally beaten.

Rooney held off three Schalke defenders and slipped a perfect through ball to Giggs, who slotted the ball between Neuer’s legs.

Two minutes later, Javier Hernandez was allowed to run unchallenged to the edge of the area and pass to Rooney, who drove past Neuer inside the near post with a low shot.

“I think we showed too much respect from the start,” said Neuer, whose team had knocked out title holder Inter Milan in the quarter-finals. “We had trouble winning the ball and did not defend well.”

United is seeking its fourth title in the competition, while Schalke is in its first semifinal. Schalke had been unbeaten at home until the semifinal, while United still has to concede a goal away from home.

The Red Devils previously went out four times against German opposition - in the semifinals against Borussia Dortmund (1997) and Bayer Leverkusen (2002), and twice against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals (2001 and 2010).

Alex Baumjohann fired the first shot less than a minute into the game after splitting the United defence but Edwin van der Sar had no trouble catching the ball.

At the other end, Rooney’s deflected shot nearly beat Neuer but instead brought a corner.

Antonio Valencia then fed Hernandez but Neuer was well placed to stop the effort, after earlier parrying a drive by Park Ji-sung.

Fabio had a great solo run and outpaced three Schalke defenders but ran out of steam.

In the 14th minute, Hernandez beat the offside trap but could not beat Neuer as the Schalke goalkeeper somehow scooped the ball. Hernandez shot wide in the 21st then dispossessed Kyriakos Papadopoulos and swapped passes with Rooney, only to have Joel Matip make a desperate clearance.

Hernandez again came close in the 26th minute but shot wide across the goal from a tight angle.

In the 28th, Neuer made a stunning reflex save from a close-range header from Giggs off a cross from captain Nemanja Vidic. Hernandez had another effort parried by Neuer in the 37th, Park got the rebound but Atsuto Uchida hurled himself before the South Korean to block the effort.

With the Red Devils dominating late in the first half, Fabio sent a left-foot effort over the crossbar.

Neuer, easily the busiest and arguably best man on the field, was nearly beaten by Giggs after a counterattack but somehow stuck out his right hand to palm the ball away. Hernandez did find the net but was flagged offside.

One of Schalke’s rare forays outside its half finished with Jose Manuel Jurado’s mistimed volley off a cross from Jefferson Farfan.

With Schalke shaking off some of the pressure, Raul Gonzalez sent a useful cross to the far post but the United defence rose to the task. Edu then tested Van der Sar, who smothered the ball in the 65th. But United responded with two quick goals and then cruised until the final whistle.

AP

한글 관련 기사 [일간스포츠]
‘속도축구’ 무장한 맨유, 샬케에 완승
스코어는 2-0이었다. 하지만 경기력의 차이는 그 이상이었다.

'산소탱크' 박지성(30)의 소속팀 맨체스터 유나이티드가 프리미어리그 특유의 빠른 패스축구를 앞세워 올 시즌 유럽축구연맹(UEFA) 챔피언스리그 결승전에 한 발 다가섰다.

맨유는 27일(한국시간) 새벽 독일 겔젠키르헨의 아레나 아우프샬케에서 열린 2010~2011시즌 챔스 4강 1차전에서 홈팀 샬케04(독일)를 2-0으로 완파했다. 박지성도 왼쪽 날개로 선발 출장해 후반28분 교체되기까지 73분을 소화하며 힘을 보탰다. 원정경기서 먼저 웃은 맨유는 홈 2차전에서 무승부 이상의 성적을 거두면 결승에 오른다. 혹여 패하더라도 한 골 차 이내의 점수차를 유지할 경우 골득실에서 앞서 결승행 티켓을 거머쥘 수 있다.

실력의 차이가 확연한 경기였다. 당초 원정 부담감을 감안해 맨유가 수비 위주의 전술을 구사할 것으로 보는 전문가들이 적잖았지만, 알렉스 퍼거슨 맨유 감독은 정공법을 택했다. 자신감의 배경은 '템포'와 '패스'에 있었다. 맨유 선수들은 한 발 빠른 움직임과 질 높은 패스로 경기 내내 샬케 선수들을 압도했다. 특히나 미드필드진 대결에서 양 팀의 차이가 도드라졌다. 라이언 긱스와 마이클 캐릭이 선발 출장한 맨유의 허리라인은 호세 마누엘 후라도-키르기아코스 파파도풀로스 콤비가 나선 샬케와의 중원 전쟁에서 완승을 거뒀다. 허리를 내준 샬케의 최전방은 고립을 면치 못했다. '챔피언스리그의 사나이'로 불리는 샬케의 베테랑 스트라이커 라울 곤살레스는 홈 팬들 앞에서 단 한 개의 슈팅도 기록하지 못한 채 쓸쓸히 그라운드를 빠져나왔다.

기록 상으로도 맨유의 일방적인 우세가 확인된다. 맨유는 슈팅 수(16-8)에서 샬케를 두 배 차로 따돌렸을 뿐만 아니라 볼 점유율(65%-35%), 볼 소유 시간(48분8초-26분8초) 등에서도 큰 폭의 우위를 보였다. 샬케 수문장 마누엘 노이어의 신들린듯한 선방쇼가 없었다면 점수 차가 더 크게 벌어질 뻔했다. 경기 종료 후 열린 공식 기자회견에서 퍼거슨 감독은 "빠른 공격으로 샬케 수비진을 잘 공략해냈다"며 맨유 선수들의 활약상에 대해 만족감을 표시했다.