Champions League - United overwhelm Arsenal

Manchester United booked their place in the Champions League final thanks to two early goals against Arsenal at the Emirates which helped them to a 4-1 aggregate victory.

Ji-Sung Park's eighth minute opener and Cristiano Ronaldo's 11th-minute free kick put the tie almost beyond the home side in the opening few minutes, while Ronaldo's second just after the hour mark put things beyond doubt.

Robin Van Persie's late penalty gave the home side a consolation goal in a 3-1 scoreline on the night - but Darren Fletcher's red card in the spot kick incident took the shine off a superb night for United.

The home fans' raucous cheering had helped boost their team to a lively start in the first five minutes, but optimism quickly turned to gloom for the Gunners when Kieran Gibbs slipped in the box to allow Ji-Sung Park to slot home the opening goal on eight minutes.

The goal gave the visitors a commanding 2-0 aggregate lead that meant Arsenal needed to score an improbable three goals; yet just three minutes later, the highly improbable target of three became all-but-impossible four as Cristiano Ronaldo fired in a 41-yard free kick that beat Manuel Almunia purely for pace.

The stunned Arsenal team now faced not so much an uphill battle as an assault on the north face of Everest, but United clearly had no intention of resting on their lead.

Instead, their fluid passing and movement allowed the hosts little time on the ball, and their tireless closing-down of the gutsy Arsenal attack force meant that every time the Gunners managed to find the door slightly ajar it was quickly slammed in their faces.

And with the sound of the visiting fans' victory chants filling the Emirates already, it was United who came closest to adding to the scoring in the remainder of the first half. Rooney's 18th minute strike forced Almunia to tip the ball around the post, and Ronaldo's powerfully-struck 32nd minute free kick was well held by the keeper.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger seemed unwilling to make drastic changes to chase the game at half-time, and after the re-start it was United who continued to look the more likely to score.

Ronaldo's left-foot effort demanded a terrific save from Almunia on 52 minutes as the visitors seemed comfortably in control, and as the hour mark loomed the Arsenal tactics finally opened up a little.

Yet as they did so, United struck again: Ronaldo released Park from an Arsenal corner, who charged up field and released Rooney on the left.

The England striker, who was playing as a left-winger on the night, released the flying Ronaldo down the centre with a perfectly-weighted ball, and the world player of the year made no mistake in burying the ball in the roof of the net with unstoppable power.

With the tie decided beyond any doubt, the pace of the game died down in the final 20 minutes, though to their credit Arsenal continued to push hard for a consolation strike with Samir Nasri and Van Persie particularly effective.

And it was the latter's run on to a ball into the box which saw Fletcher sent off: the defender's lunging challenge from behind sent the Dutchman flying on the edge of the six-yard box. Though it was a highly-risky tackle, replays showed that Fletcher had made contact with the ball - yet the referee sent him off and he will miss the final.

Van Persie converted the penalty brilliantly, yet it was purely academic and none of the Arsenal players even bothered to make the usual show of clamouring to pick the ball out and rush to get the game restarted.

The sides played out the remainder of the match in relative calm, and though Emmanuel Adebayor had half-chances in the final few minutes the affair had begun to take on all the urgency of a training match.

For Arsenal, the result ended their hopes of lifting a first trophy since 2005.

For United, a superb performance over the two legs will give them every hope of becoming the first side to retain the Champions League trophy.

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