Dramatic Late Winner Stuns AC Milan

Man Utd 3 - 2 AC Milan

It certainly didn’t disappoint, did it? Nothing like leaving it until the last minute to grab the winner! And it was Wayne Rooney who stepped up with the seconds quickly ticking away to strike the stunning winner and put Man Utd slightly ahead in the tie and also as slight favourites to reach the Final in Athens and make it the first all English Final in Europe.

Sir Alex Ferguson the Utd manager now believes his team have a “magnificent chance” of reaching that Final. He said after the game, “We kept playing our football, some of which was fantastic, and dominated the second half.

“Some of the football we played was absolute quality, really top class. We’ve got a magnificent chance now.

“We’re in front and they know that - it’s a really big game now.

“They have got a really difficult game on their hands now. We are chasing the Premiership and this is the biggest boost we could have got.”

It was Cristiano Ronaldo who gave Utd the perfect start after only 6 minutes with a header. But the smiles didn’t last too long. It was the brilliant Kaha, who was a constant threat, that struck twice. First on 22 minutes and then again on 37 minutes to silence Old Trafford and send Milan in at the break 2 - 1 ahead. To be honest the second goal was the result of some poor Utd defending when Heinze and Evra collided. How crucial will that second away goal prove to be when the sides meet in the San Siro next Wednesday?

When the second half got under way, it was going to need someone to “stand up to the plate” because Kaha, in particular, was in excellent form and he was able to beat the Utd offside trap after a beautiful one-two with Seedorf, who only managed to shot wide. It could have been a very different story had Utd gone 1 - 3 down at that point. However, the moment Utd were waiting for came on 59 minutes when Scholes provided a sublime pass for Rooney. The Brazilian goalkeeper was able to half stop Rooney’s effort but the ball had enough strength on it to roll into the net.

Rooney scoring his first to equalise at 2 - 2.

Ferguson stated after the game that Scholes’ pass for Rooney was “fantastic, just a little flick but what a pass.” Rooney also paid tribute to the “genius” of Paul Scholes in setting up the equaliser saying, “I see him do it every day in training. He’s brilliant. He is a joy to play with, a genius.”

The initiative was suddenly back with Utd and Dida had to pull off a brilliant save from Fletcher. Utd started to mount a period of sustained pressure and Dida was yet again called into action and produced another superb save, this time from a dipping drive from Ronaldo. Dida was just able to steer it inches wide.

However, the real drama was yet to come. With the seconds ticking away and the game already in extra-time and looking like 2 - 2 draw, Rooney ran onto a Giggs pass to fire past Dida sending Old Trafford into ecstasy.

Rooney, the hero, said after the game, “It’s a great feeling. It was a difficult match but when it got late we kept going. We knew the victory would make it a little bit easier for the away leg.

“And to get a goal in the last minute is a great feeling.

“It was fantastic. At 2-1 behind at half-time against a very good Milan team, we knew it would be difficult to get the win. The manager told us to keep pushing, keep going and we’ll get the goals, and we did.”

Looking forward to the second leg? Oh yes!

The Soccer Blogger