Manchester United have cruised through to the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final – which is to take place in Wembley – by defeating German side Shalke 04 by a 4-1 scoreline at Old Trafford on the evening of Wednesday 4th May 2011.
The scoreline gave United a 6-1 aggregate lead, after the first leg in Gelsenkirchen saw the Red Devils return home with a good 2-0 away victory.
In the second leg at Old Trafford, it took just 31 minutes for the hosts to wrap up an untouchable four goal advantage as Darren Gibson first set up Valencia on 26 minutes before slotting home himself on 31 minutes.
Though Jurado pulled a goal back for the visitors on 35 minutes, giving the match a 2-1 half time scoreline (aggregate 4-1) in United’s favour, a second half brace of goals from Anderson (72, 76) gave the home fans plenty to shout about.
Raymond van der Sar, the Manchester United goalkeeper who will, at the end of the season, be retiring, was called into action a couple of times late on to deny Schalke any consolation goals, but the German side, in truth, never looked like coming close to picking up a result over the course of the two legs, and had their own goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, to thank for still being in with a chance after the first leg.
United will meet FC Barcelona in the Final, which takes place in the English side’s capital, at Wembley Stadium, on Saturday 28th May 2011.