Manchester United will meet Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final after crushing woeful Schalke 6-1 on aggregate in their semi-final.
Anderson double adds to earlier goals from Valencia and Gibson
Manchester United will meet Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final after crushing woeful Schalke 6-1 on aggregate in their semi-final cruise.
Already leading 2-0 from the one-sided first leg in Gelsenkirchen, first-half goals from Antonio Valencia and Darron Gibson put Sir Alex Ferguson's side further on course for Wembley on 28th May in a repeat of the 2009 showpiece.
Jose Manuel Jurado pulled one back for the dismal Bundesliga outfit soon after but any hopes of an improbable comeback were crushed by a quick-fire brace from Anderson, who had only scored two goals from his previous 127 appearances.
Ferguson clearly had one eye on Sunday's Premier League showdown with Chelsea as he elected to make nine changes to his starting XI from the first leg, with only Edwin van der Sar and Valencia surviving.
Schalke actually started with some purpose and carved out the first opportunity of the contest when Jefferson Farfan was allowed to advance towards the United box before firing a low shot narrowly wide of a sprawling Van der Sar's post.
United's opening chance came in the 13th minute via the trickery of Dimitar Berbatov, who twisted and turned near the touchline on the left of the penalty area, throwing off enough defenders to create space to fire across the box, where Manuel Neuer was able to gather.
Imposing
The home side were now taking control of the contest and extended their already imposing advantage in the 26th minute with Valencia providing an astute finish to Gibson's superb through-ball after Schalke squandered possession near the halfway line.
And it was 2-0 soon after as Neuer, who performed heroics in the first leg to keep the score respectable, blundered as he allowed a routine Gibson shot from the edge of the area to bounce up off his palms and into the net.
Chants of 'Wembley' rained down from the stands but were swiftly silenced as Smalling's blunder in bringing the ball out of defence allowed the German side to seize possession and Jurado unleashed an unstoppable strike from 16 yards out which rifled into the net.
United immediately went back on attack and were inches away from restoring their four-goal cushion, with Valencia drawing Neuer and getting his shot on target only for Benedikt Howedes to get back and block on the line.
Ralf Rangnick's men threatened again at the start of the second period with Raul setting up Farfan for a blocked effort before half-time substitute Edu went close from the resulting corner.
Neuer then redeemed himself to an extent following his first-half gaffe as he stretched with every fibre to tip away Anderson's curling effort in the 55th minute which looked destined for the top corner.
Composure
Ferguson was forced to make a change on the hour mark with young full-back Rafael limping out of the action through injury and Patrice Evra coming on, with skipper John O'Shea switching from left to right-back.
Smalling had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside before Anderson made it 3-1 on the night to the dominant hosts in the 72nd minute, showing good composure to turn and fire beyond Neuer at the second attempt following a powerful burst from Nani down the right.
There was another welcome sight for the home fans immediately after the goal with Darren Fletcher making his comeback after a long spell out with a virus, before Anderson doubled his tally as he tapped home following Berbatov's break.
Van der Sar proved he was still awake at the other end of the field as he plunged to his left to keep out Edu's stinging effort from range, with fellow sub Klaas-Jan Huntelaar ruled offside as he followed up to slide the ball home.
Michael Owen was introduced into the action in place of Berbatov but could not add to the tally, although the former England international did draw another fine save out of Neuer in the closing moments.
United's five-goal margin of victory in the two-legged semi-final was the biggest in the history of the competition, but they will be only too aware that a much sterner test is on the horizon in the shape of Pep Guardiola's brilliant Barcelona.
| Manchester United |
Team Statistics |
FC Schalke 04 |
| 4 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 8 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 2 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 0 |
Blocked Shots |
8 |
| 13 |
Corners |
10 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 8 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 81.9 |
Passing Success |
85.7 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
22 |
| 84.2 |
Tackles Success |
86.4 |
| 46.1 |
Possession |
53.9 |
| 42.2 |
Territorial Advantage |
57.8 |
|
