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Sir Alex Ferguson said the better team had won after Manchester United despatched Chelsea to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. With United holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg at Stamford Bridge, Javier Hernandez crashed home the night’s opening goal just before half-time from Giggs’ cross. When Ramires was dismissed for the Blues in the 70th minute, their hopes seemed all-but over. However, substitute Didier Drogba reduced the deficit in the 77th minute before Ji-Sung Park immediately went up the other end to reclaim United’s two-goal cushion and end the contest as United won 3-1 on aggregate. Ferguson told Sky Sports: “I think we played very, very well against a very, very good team. Chelsea played a big part in that game today. “I thought we were the better team on the night. In a team game. we had some fantastic performances: Park, Chicharito (Hernandez) – all over. No-one let us down.” Ferguson admitted his side were lucky to score so quickly after Chelsea’s leveller on the night. “That was the break we got in the game, to be honest. I thought it was a cheap goal to lose.” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was gracious in defeat. “We had control of the game for the first 25 minutes but were not able to score,” he said. “At the end of the first half when they scored it was more difficult for us, we came back with 10 men but in the end it was not enough. “Our performance was not so bad but I think of the two teams, Manchester United deserved to win.” Ancelotti praised Drogba’s impact from the bench but side-stepped the question of whether he regretted starting with Fernando Torres instead. Asked about the task of lifting his team, the Italian said: “It will be difficult but we have to make the top four for Champions League football next season. “We need to quickly move on from this defeat, this disappointment, and onto the next game.” As for Torres, he added: “We have to believe (in him), we have to wait until he improves.” Ryan Giggs said Park’s goal “knocked the stuffing” out of Carlo Ancelotti’s side. “Chelsea gave us a great game but you’re always pleased to get into the semi-finals,” Giggs said. “We expected them to come at us. They needed to score; we knew we needed to try to score too, to take the pressure of us. I think we deserved it. We played well down there, had a good gameplan and stuck to it and tonight got a couple of great goals. “The second goal came at exactly the right time. They had just scored, so us scoring so quickly after they had knocked the stuffing out of them, really.” Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

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Barca cruise into last four

Barcelona secured their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League and a probable showdown with arch rivals Real Madrid after completing a 1-0 win Shakhtar Donetsk.

Leading 5-1 from last week’s quarter-final first leg at the Nou Camp, Barca weathered an early storm at the Donbass Arena before netting what would prove to be the only goal of the night through Lionel Messi just before half-time.

That was the FIFA Ballon d’Or winner’s 48th competitive goal of what has been an incredible season and ensured there would be no slip-up by Pep Guardiola’s side, who will meet Madrid in the last four unless Tottenham can overhaul a 4-0 deficit.

The result was also the ideal preparation for Barca ahead of Saturday’s ‘El Clasico’ against Madrid at the Bernabeu, where the Catalan club defend an eight-point lead at the top of the Primera Division standings.

Shakhtar had history against them coming into the clash with only three clubs ever having previously managed to overturn a four-goal first-leg deficit in UEFA competition, while on Saturday the Ukrainian champions suffered their first home defeat since October 2008 after going down 1-0 to 10-man Obolon Kyiv.

Despite that loss though, Shakhtar still boasted a hugely impressive record at the Donbass Arena, where they had won 32 of 35 matches since moving there in September 2009, and Mircea Lucescu’s side were determined not to give Barca an easy ride.

Knowing how critical an early goal could be, Shakhtar started in determined fashion and they created a great opening in the eighth minute when Jadson’s clever pass put Douglas in, but he could not beat Victor Valdes, who did superbly to block at his near post.

The home side continued to push and Jadsen had two efforts which, fortunately for Barca, were straight at Valdes.

Barca stayed calm though, and soon enough they were causing problems for the Shakhtar defence. Messi and Ibrahim Afellay both saw well-struck efforts saved by Andrei Pyatov, while Adriano had a shot cleared off the line by Yaroslav Rakitskiy.

Messi then spurned a magnificent chance in the 31st minute when faced with just Pyatov to beat. However, although the Shakhtar goalkeeper came out on top on that occasion, he was left grasping at thin air 12 minutes later when Messi put Barca ahead with his ninth goal in this season’s Champions League.

The Argentina international received a return pass from Dani Alves on the edge of the Shakhtar area before making his way into the box and, after riding a challenge, fired a low shot inside Pyatov’s near post.

That goal wiped out Shakhtar’s away strike from the first leg and all but ended any slim hopes they had of creating a huge upset.

However, the home side refused to give up and they almost drew level on the stroke of half-time with a Jadsen free-kick that Valdes did well to tip over. Shakhtar kept up their hunt for an equaliser after the break, but they also left themselves at risk of being hit on the counter-attack and Barca nearly doubled their lead in the 58th minute through Afellay.

A fine run from Messi ripped open the Shakhtar defence and, after he had laid the ball off to Afellay, it needed a fine diving save from Pyatov to deny the Dutchman.

Valdes produced an even better stop in the 73rd minute to keep out Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who had spun well on the edge of the box but saw his rasping drive brilliantly parried over one-handed by the Barca number one.

Shakhtar’s final chance to salvage a draw fell to substitute Marcelo Moreno, but he volleyed wide from six yards out after flinging himself at Vyacheslav Shevchuk’s superb right-wing cross and Barca were able to celebrate the victory.

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Ten-man Chelsea fall to United

Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea future is in serious doubt after his side crashed out of the Champions League at Manchester United, leaving Roman Abramovich with the taste of European failure on his lips for another season.

As Sir Alex Ferguson has noted, Abramovich is obsessed by winning this competition but with the Russian looking on from the directors’ box, United emerged triumphant, Javier Hernandez and Park Ji-Sung finding the net either side of half-time.

Ancelotti insisted he is under no pressure to play Fernando Torres before the game, but the misfiring Spaniard began Wednesday’s match, before being replaced at half-time by Didier Drogba after another ineffective performance.

Torres has now failed to score in 11 Chelsea games, but Drogba continues to look a threat and briefly threatened to derail United after grabbing an equaliser shortly after Ramires was sent off.

It was a false dawn, however, and Chelsea are staring down the barrel of a trophyless season, with Ancelotti likely to be in the firing line if Abramovich decides to pull the trigger.

No-one could accuse the Italian of shirking the big decision and it was true that Chelsea’s first-half performance was vastly superior to their efforts at Stamford Bridge six days ago.

Torres glanced an early header wide after climbing above Rio Ferdinand, who was hampered by an injury that did not prove serious enough to force him off.

Nicolas Anelka was narrowly wide with a half-volley that came about as a direct result of a Torres mis-hit and when the Frenchman intercepted a poor clearance by Nemanja Vidic, it looked like he would get a clear sight of goal until Edwin van der Sar robbed him with a perfectly executed slide tackle.

With Ramires the driving force in midfield, it seemed only a matter of time before Chelsea were back on level terms and they certainly should have been when Florent Malouda raced into the box, then teed up Frank Lampard with a perfectly weighted square ball. But the midfielder’s finish was not good enough and he was unable to beat Van der Sar.

But with Vidic and Ferdinand standing firm, United survived, allowing Wayne Rooney to cause mayhem at the other end. Operating in a deep role just behind Hernandez, Rooney -more than anyone – dictated the pace of the Red Devils’ play.

It was the England striker, who will be suspended on Saturday when United tackle City in a Manchester derby FA Cup semi-final, who fizzed over the cross from which Hernandez thought he had put the hosts in front, only to be flagged offside.

The call was tight, equally as debatable as the one that followed in the final minute of the half as United took the lead. Much has been made of how good this present Ferguson team actually is and so often it is derided for lacking stardust.

But they certainly gain from Giggs’ vast experience and when Nani’s free-kick ended up being shunted back to the right flank from which it had been delivered, John O’Shea set his 37-year-old team-mate scampering into the box with an inspired reverse pass.

He took his time, looked up and delivered the ball low to the far post, where Hernandez arrived at exactly the right moment to slide it into the roof of the Chelsea net.

At half-time, Ancelotti withdrew his shot-shy striker and introdued Drogba. The Ivorian almost levelled within a minute of the restart, just failing to find the target with a near-post flick.

A man on a mission, Drogba then whipped round Ferdinand and lashed a low 20-yard drive narrowly wide. And, after Ramires had been handed a second booking for a needless foul on Nani, it was Drogba who refused to let Chelsea surrender, drilling through Van der Sar’s legs to breathe new hope into the visitors’ challenge.

Unfortunately for the striker, as quickly as it arrived, it was snuffed out as Giggs chipped a glorious pass to Park, who fired gleefully into the bottom corner to send United into the last four, where they will almost certainly meet German challengers Schalke.

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Chelsea‘s Champions League ‘obsession’ is over for another year after a 3-1 aggregate defeat against Manchester United.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side, trailing 1-0 from the first leg, started brightly at Old Trafford but fell behind to a Javier Hernandez strike just before the break.

Chelsea’s night took a turn for the worse when Ramires was dismissed for a second bookable offence on 70 minutes but Didier Drogba, on for Fernando Torres at half-time, gave the Blues hope with a 77th-minute strike.

United responded instantly, though, as Ji-Sung Park’s strike restored the hosts’ two-goal cushion and ensured a relaxed finish to the game.

United will now face either Schalke or Inter in the semi-finals, with the Bundesliga side firm favourites after last week’s 5-2 win at the San Siro.

Meanwhile, Barcelona added to their sizeable lead over Shakhtar Donetsk to record a 6-1 aggregate victory.

Leading 5-1 from last week’s quarter-final first leg at the Camp Nou, Barca weathered an early storm at the Donbass Arena before netting what would prove to be the only goal of the night through Lionel Messi just before half-time.

Barca are now set to face Real Madrid in the next round unless Tottenham can come back from their 4-0 defeat at the Bernabeu when the teams meet at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.

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