Wed Apr 9 17:15:29 2008

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Tevez leads United past Roma; Barca knocks off Schalke

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Manchester, England (Sports Network) - Carlos Tevez scored in the 70th minute to push Manchester United past Roma, 1-0 at Old Trafford in the second leg of their quarterfinal matchup in the Champions League.

The Red Devils will advance to the semifinals for the second straight year, and they will meet Barcelona, who beat Schalke 1-0 on Wednesday behind a Yaya Toure goal in the 43rd minute.

United earned an impressive 2-0 win in Rome in the first leg, and with a crucial game against Arsenal in the Premiership on Sunday, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson decided to sit both Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

Despite the absence of that duo, the Red Devils created some good scoring chances in the first half, mostly through the strong work of midfielder Owen Hargreaves.

The England international nearly put his side up a goal in the opening 10 minutes when he was played into the box on the right and struck the ball towards the far post, however Roma goalkeeper Doni got enough of the shot to keep it out.

Hargreaves set up a good chance for Ryan Giggs minutes later, but Doni made a good reaction stop to turn that effort away.

Another good save from the Roma keeper on Anderson kept the game scoreless, but the visitors were handed a great scoring opportunity on the half-hour mark to make things interesting.

Roma's Alessandro Mancini danced into the box and had the ball poked away by United defender Wes Brown. Mancini went down and the referee pointed to the spot, even though there was minimal contact.

Daniele De Rossi stepped to the spot with a chance to put pressure on the home side, but he fired his kick over the net and Roma saw its big opportunity disappear.

The first half was played at a frantic pace with both sides running up and down, but United settled the play down a bit in the second half in an effort to keep Roma off the scoreboard.

Roma defender Juan forced United keeper Edwin Van der Sar to make a diving stop when he headed a corner kick towards the left post, and although Roma threatened on a few occasions in the second half, they never quite recovered from De Rossi's miss.

The hosts struck the final blow with 20 minutes to play when Hargreaves took a pass from Tevez on the left flank and drove the ball towards the near post for the Argentine striker. Tevez dove and got his head to the ball, redirecting it into the far corner to secure the win.

Like United, Barcelona also earned a tough road win and came back home to the Nou Camp as heavy favorites to advance.

They got a 1-0 win in Germany in the first leg and put Schalke behind by a goal minutes before halftime to seize control.

Bojan Krkic crossed low from the right and Schalke defender Mladen Krstajic got his foot in the way to clear the ball. However, it looped high into the air towards goal but was cleared off the line by Marcelo Jose Bordon. The clearance only got as far as Toure and he drove the ball into the back of the net from eight yards.

Barca was in control over the remainder of the match as Schalke struggled to generate offense.

The Catalan side will be looking to win its second Champions League title in three years, while United has not claimed the top prize in European club competition since 1999.

The first leg will take place on Wednesday, April 23 at the Nou Camp, with the second leg scheduled for Old Trafford on Tuesday, April 29.