Tue Apr 29 17:49:43 2008

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United nips Barca to set up all-English final

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Manchester, England (Sports Network) - Veteran Paul Scholes scored in the 14th minute and Manchester United defeated Barcelona, 1-0, on Tuesday to set up the first all-English Champions League final.

Manchester and Barcelona tied the first leg 0-0 in Spain, and United advanced on aggregate with the win at Old Trafford.

England's Chelsea and Liverpool play the second leg of their semifinal series Wednesday at Stamford Bridge to determine the other finalist. Chelsea escaped Anfield with a 1-1 draw in the first leg on an own goal on the last play.

The Champions League final is May 21 in Moscow.

Scholes, who missed the 1999 Champions League final when Manchester scored two goals in stoppage time to defeat Bayern Munich 2-1, scored for just the second time this season in all competitions.

The 33-year-old former England international has played with United his entire career but his game winner could arguably the best goal of his storied career.

Scholes ran onto a poor clearance by Barca's Gianluca Zambrotta about 15 yards outside the penalty area and hammered a low-hopping ball. Scholes' shot barely missed Barca defender Gabriel Milito, who turned his back to avoid getting hit by the ball, and swerved toward the upper right corner.

Barcelona goalie Victor Valdes dove to his left to try and make a save but the ball sailed perfectly into the upper corner.

Scholes' goal spoiled a strong start by Barcelona, which dominated the opening minutes. Barca nearly had a penalty kick in the first minute of the match when Scholes fouled Lio Messi on the edge of the box.

The free kick was taken from the edge of the area, but Messi wasted the chance with a low drive into a two-man wall.

Manchester United struggled just to connect passes in the first 10 minutes but settled down after the goal and created better scoring chances than Barcelona for the remainder of the match.

Barcelona finished with more shots, but not as many quality chances. Messi had one of the better chances of the opening half in the 20th minute, but his shot was pushed wide by United goalie Edwin van der Sar.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who made the long run that eventually led to Scholes' goal, was under constant pressure throughout the game but nearly set up a second for United.

He made a nice turn on the left side to get away from two Barca defenders and crossed to Ji-Sung Park, who headed just wide of the right post.

Barcelona's Deco followed with a pair of hard shots, but missed wide on both. Van der Sar nearly handed Barcelona the tying goal in the 37th minute when he spilled a rebound that Samuel Eto'o nearly poked into the net.

United capped the half with another chance off a cross, this time Park passed to Nani, but his header with defenders on each side also went wide right.

Barcelona struggled to create any scores chances early in the second half and finally turned to striker Thierry Henry in the 61st minute.

Henry helped spark Barca's offense, but the Spanish giants just couldn't find the quality chance they needed to tie the match.

Deco had another chance in the 64th minute off a free kick, but his deflected shot sailed wide of the left post.

Henry provided the next two chances for Barca, heading directly at van de Sar and forcing the United goalie to make a diving save on a right-footed shot.

Bojan Krkic, a 17-year-old striker, entered the match late in the second half and had a great chance in the final minutes when he was alone in the box, but was unable to get a shot off before United defender Wes Brown recovered.

Barcelona had one last chance on a free kick seven minutes into stoppage time but, even with Valdes up for the chance, United cleared the ball.

The final whistle blew seconds later and Manchester United celebrated as Messi walked off the field with his head down.

United had lost the second leg of three straight Champions League series after a scoreless first leg on the road, but snapped the jinx even with Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic out injured.

Manchester, which also won the Champions League in 1968, is searching for its third title. Barcelona also has two Champions League crowns.