Rampant United Tear Roma Apart

Breathtaking. Awesome. Phenomenal. Stunning. Irresistible. Magical. Sensational. Rack up all the superlatives you can muster and you’ll still have trouble doing justice to magnificent Manchester United, as they annihilated and humiliated AS Roma to sweep imperiously into the Champions League semi-finals with an astonishing 7-1 rout that will strike fear into potential opponents Bayern Munich and AS Roma.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson described it as his best ever night in European football and no wonder. Right from the kick-off, his boys tore into Roma and within 20 minutes they had established a commanding 3-0 lead and thoroughly demoralised the Italians. Michael Carrick, who was majestic in midfield, led the way in the 12th minute with a glorious shot from outside the box that evoked memories of Arsenal’s Dennis Bergkamp. Five minutes later United were two up as the irrepressible Alan Smith, who has fought so hard to come back from a horrific injury, expertly finished a sweeping United move with a calm placement into the far corner, and on 19 minutes Wayne Rooney gleefully ran in Ryan Giggs’ cross to register the third. And as half time beckoned, Cristiano Ronaldo, who had terrorised the Roma defence, fired low into the corner to complete an unbelievable first half.

Any lingering hopes of a Roma revival were dismissed four minutes after the interval as Ronaldo turned in Giggs’ cross for his second and in the 60th minute Carrick produced arguably the goal of the game with an unstoppable 25 yarder into the top corner. By this time, Old Trafford was rocking and even a sharp volley from De Rossi could not darken the mood, especially when substitute Patrice Evra, operating from the unfamiliar position of right back, popped up in the 81st minute to complete the rout with a neat low shot which clipped the inside of the near post.

Right now, United are in line for a second historic treble and with football of this quality, only Chelsea and Liverpool fans are likely to begrudge them.