Man Utd fail to make their domination of Arsenal pay

Manchester United 1 Arsenal 0. Alex Ferguson's Manchester United dominated their Premier League rivals Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at Old Trafford last night, but ended the game with only a single first-half John O'Shea to goal to show for their control.

In a back-and-forth first quarter of the game, both sides probed like a boxer finding his range. Then Manchester United struck after a dangerous attack from Carlos Tevez that drew a point-blank save from Manuel Almunia, and subsequently yielded a corner. The set-piece dropped long, but the the Arsenal defence disappeared and O'Shea buried the resulting cross back into the box.

Arsenal attempted to get back into the game, but they lacked their usual razor-sharp passing acumen, and were harried and harassed by a businesslike Man United who never seemed to need to shift in to second gear. Walcott worried the home side's defence on occasion with his blistering pace, but nothing ever came from his probing runs.

The second half saw Ferguson's men seeking a knock-out second goal, while seemed happy to keep the damage down to just a one-goal deficit that they will believe they can overturn next week at the Emirates. "The positive for us is that it's only 1-0 and next week, playing at home, I am confident you will see a different Arsenal," warned Arsene Wenger.

WHAT ARE THEY SAYING
Kevin McCarra, the Guardian: "Manchester United overwhelmed Arsenal, yet neglected to leave the full evidence in the result. That could be termed carelessness, but it is the habit of this side, with its emphasis on control, to show circumspection. In consequence the visitors will have left Old Trafford in good heart, but that is simply because they avoided devastation in the first leg of this Champions League semi-final. Despite improvement after the ­interval, they did not put United in peril. It took one of Sir Alex Ferguson's own men to do that near the close, with Edwin van der Sar racing rashly from his line to pursue a cross that the substitute Nicklas Bendtner headed off-target. Maybe Arsenal will see in that an omen of arbitrary factors that may still sway the tie."

Matt Lawton, Daily Mail: "This was a terrific performance from United, with Ferguson's decision to return to a formula that was so effective last season enabling them to crush Arsenal's ambition in a manner that would have left Arsene Wenger utterly dejected. In leaving Dimitar Berbatov on the bench and deploying Carlos Tevez between Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferguson went back to the old routine and in doing so performed something of a managerial masterstroke." ·