A stunning Cristiano Ronaldo strike saw Manchester United progress to the Champions League semi-finals with a 1-0 win at Porto.
Ronaldo scored the only goal of a tight game after just six minutes to see United become the first English side to win at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao stadium.
United went into the game knowing a sharp improvement was needed. They relied on late victories to beat Aston Villa and Sunderland in the league and, while they nearly did the same to Porto at Old Trafford in-between, a 2-2 draw was the least the visitors deserved.
Sir Alex Ferguson admitted as much in his press conference ahead of the second leg – “Porto were better than us last week and gave us a very hard game,” he said – but there was still an air of expectation that the reigning champions would live to fight another day after the visit to the Estadio do Dragao.
“We know we have a big job to do, but it should be a good match,” Ferguson said.
“We can beat anyone on our day, so we will go to Portugal with confidence and believing we can win,” Michael Carrick said.
“It’s an uphill task now, but one we’re definitely capable of,” Darren Fletcher said.
"It's a big game, and there's no doubt it's going to be difficult, but all we have to do is win a football match,” Paul Scholes said.
They took what proved to be the crucial step towards that end with just six minutes played when Ronaldo delivered a sublime effort from 40 yards into the side of Helton's goal.
The Portugal star had been criticised by his manager in an interview ahead of the game: if this was the response, it seemed Ferguson was still the master of the media.
For a time, though, United were still a little shaky and vulnerable. Cristian Rodriguez and Lucho Gonzalez in particular were becoming increasingly effective and it was really only when the latter was stretchered off – giving an irate Ferguson a chance to berate his players – that the reigning champions showed any sign of playing as such.
Porto still had chances – Bruno Alves went close with a header while Lisandro Lopez struck an effort straight at Edwin van der Sar – but United were starting to assert themselves.
Immediately after Ferguson’s lectures, Ryan Giggs struck a volley on goal and, just before half-time, Nemanja Vidic was just unable to direct a corner on target with the goalmouth gaping. While there were still creases to be ironed out, it was by any reckoning a successful first 45 minutes.
Porto, though, were back on top in the second half but still they failed to make anything of their chances.
It was, in truth, a poor half and, as the game entered its final ten minutes, off-target headers from Mariano Gonzalez and Rolando represented the closest either side had come.
Late on, Mariano started to cause real problems on the right wing, and Lisandro should have done far better when he met the substitute’s cross with five minutes to play, while Farias failed to make good contact with a free header just afterwards.
But it was always too little. United held onto the most slender of advantages, but the hosts always looked reluctant to commit numbers to their attacks and, as a result, lacked the penetration.
A deserved victory for United, then, as they prepare to face Arsenal in another Premier League-dominated semi-finals.
STAR MAN: Fernando (7.5). While United spent much of the game stifling any Porto attacks, Fernando was the standout performing doing the same task for the home side. Click here for full Opta match stats and player ratings.