Tue Apr 1 17:10:49 2008

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Ronaldo, Rooney lead United over Roma

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Rome, Italy (Sports Network) - Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney had goals as Manchester United topped Roma, 2-0, in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal series Tuesday at Stadio Olimpico.

Ronaldo scored his seventh goal in the Champions League in the 39th minute and Rooney added a second crucial away goal in the 66th minute with his fourth.

Manchester United, which defeated Roma in the last Champions League by an 8-3 aggregate score, takes the comfortable cushion back to Old Trafford on April 9 with its eyes on the semifinals.

Barcelona also won the first leg of its quarterfinal series, defeating Schalke 1-0 at Arena AufSchalke. The second leg is April 9 in Spain.

Ronaldo continued his magical season in the 39th minute, giving up his body to meet a Paul Scholes cross and head it into the left side of the net.

Ronaldo, who has 33 goals combined between the English Premier League and the Champions League, soared above Roma's defense to head the ball into the ground a few feet in front of the net before it bounced into the corner.

Immediately after heading the ball, Ronaldo hit heads with Marco Cassetti and remained down on the field for more than a minute. Ronaldo was fine and played the rest of the match.

Roma was unfortunate to go down, having created the majority of the chances in the early stages of the first half and controlling more possession.

The Italian Serie A club, which is second in Italy behind Inter Milan, nearly found the equalizer in the 62nd minute forward Mirko Vucinic was denied by a great save from Manchester United goalie Edwin Van der Sar.

Vucinic's headed shot, off a corner kick from David Pizarro, had a lot of pace on it but Van der Sar sprawled to make a save.

Roma's chances of advancing to the quarterfinals all but vanished four minutes later when Rooney picked up a loose ball in front of the net and scored.

United's Ji-Sung Park headed the ball back to the middle and Roma goalie Doni made an initial save to knock the ball down. But the rebound bounced around to Rooney and he easily buried the ball into the back of the net from just a few yards out.

Manchester United came close to extending its lead a few times but Ronaldo was denied by the post in the 68th, Michael Carrick fired just wide of the post in the 72nd and Ronaldo fired high on a great volley in the 90th.

Roma, which was playing without Francesco Totti, wasn't very dangerous after a long spell of possession in the first half. Roma did have a few chances in the second half, but couldn't swing the game with a goal.

Based on the teams' history, and their previous meetings in the group stage of the Champions League, Manchester United is in control heading into the second leg.

Manchester United won 1-0 at home in the teams' previous meeting in the group.

Barcelona, which is struggling in Spain's La Liga, got the only goal it needed from young Bojan Krkic in the 12th minute.

Thierry Henry set up the goal with an initial shot that was saved by Schalke's Manuel Neuer. The rebound was crossed back across the box by Henry, and Bojan just had to shoot into an empty net for his first Champions League goal.

The winners of the Manchester United-Roma and Barcelona-Schalke series meet in the semifinals.

On Wednesday, Liverpool visits Arsenal and Chelsea visits Fenerbahce to wrap up the first legs of the quarterfinals.