Giggs leads Man Utd to victory, Torres fails again

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 1. (United win 3-1 on aggregate). Javier Hernandez and Ji-Sung Park scored the goals that took United into the Champions League semi-finals last night but the star of the show was Ryan Giggs (centre).

The 37-year-old Welshman had a hand in both his side's goals, combining vision with a deft touch and a fleetness of foot in a performance that had manager Alex Ferguson purring: "He's incredible, a unique person and player. It's a great contribution and his experience and composure were vital."

In contrast, the travails of Chelsea striker Fernando Torres hit a new low when the £50m striker was substituted at half-time and replaced by Didier Drogba. The arrival of Drogba gave Chelsea far greater presence up front and it was the hulking Ivorian hitman who gave Chelsea fans hope of a dramatic comeback when he latched on to Michael Essien's pass and rifled the ball under Edwin Van der Sar on 77 minutes.

That goal brought the Blues level on the night with United, equalising the first-half effort of Hernandez three minutes before the break. Having had one goal disallowed for being fractionally offside, the little Mexican made no mistake a few minutes later as Giggs and John O'Shea exchanged passes out wide on the United right.

Giggs then whipped a low ball across the six yard box, which just eluded Wayne Rooney but not Hernandez, who wheeled away in delight as Old Trafford celebrated what they thought would be the killer blow.

Chelsea had hardly threatened up to that point with Torres ineffectual and Nicolas Anelka wayward in his shooting. The best chance of the half fell to Frank Lampard, who found himself free in the United box thanks to a sweet flick from Florent Malouda, but shot tamely at Van der Sar.

Chelsea had more drive about them with the half-time introduction of Drogba but the joy Chelsea fans felt at his goal was short-lived – all of 21 seconds in fact. From the restart Giggs put Park in space and the Korean surged into the Chelsea box, coolly slotting the ball past Petr Cech to keep United's dream of a treble very much alive.

To their credit,  the Blues – reduced to 10 men on 70 minutes when Ramires received a second yellow for a clumsy challenge – never gave up. But over the two legs the gap in quality between the two sides was marked. "Our performance was not so bad but I think of the two teams, United deserved to win," admitted Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who was also asked if he regretted starting with Torres and not Drogba.

"Maybe. Could be," he replied. "I told you a lot of times this season I wanted to start with Fernando for this kind of game, these type of tactics. Didier played well in the second half. I wanted to put more pressure up front because we needed to score. Didier was fresh and he could use his power up front. This was the reason I took out Fernando."

As for man-of-the-match Giggs, he remains on course for his third Champions League title with United and was modesty itself afterwards when asked about his decisive contribution, saying: "My job in the centre was made easier with Michael Carrick next to me, who had a fantastic two games. It's easier [to play in matches] as you get older because you pick your moments."

United will now play the winner of tonight's clash between Schlake O4 and Inter Milan (the Germans leading 5-2 from the first leg) while Barcelona, who confirmed their place in the last four with a 6-1 aggregate thumping of Shakhtar Donestsk, will almost certainly face Real Madrid unless Tottenham can overturn a 4-0 deficit at White Hart Lane. ·