United 4 Schalke 1

United turned on the style to make absolutely certain of a place in the 2011 UEFA Champions League final, firing four goals past Schalke in an enthralling semi-final second leg at Old Trafford.

Antonio Valencia and Darron Gibson put the Reds well and truly in the driving seat with two first-half strikes and although Jurado pulled a stunning goal back for Schalke, also before the break, Sir Alex Ferguson's double chasers went on to win comfortably thanks to a second-half brace from the outstanding Anderson.

To single out the South American or any of the triumphant United stars would be misleading, however - this was another tremendous team effort with 14 players making a contribution to the cause and perhaps giving their manager some more selection dilemmas in the exciting days and weeks ahead.

Sir Alex stayed true to his word and made changes – eight, in fact, from the side that slipped up at Arsenal. Only Edwin van der Sar, Anderson and Nani were asked to start again as the boss picked a side with Sunday against Chelsea in mind. Wayne Rooney, reported to have a tight hamstring on Tuesday, was out of the 18 altogether but his now-regular strike partner Javier Hernandez was named among a strong group of substitutes.

There was a subdued start to the match, with the atmosphere nothing like as electric as it was for the last semi-final second leg to be staged