United secure first-leg advantage

Two goals in three second half minutes from Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney have put Manchester United on the brink of a place in the Champions League final at Wembley on May 28 after a 2-0 first-leg win at Schalke.

Barring an improbable triumph for Schalke in eight days' time, United will return to the venue where they won the first of their three European Cups in 1968 to face either Real Madrid and Barcelona.

They will probably be relieved too given they had wasted an incredible 13 chances in a one-sided contest before Giggs profited from Rooney's through ball and the England striker capped a fine individual display by turning home a second from Javier Hernandez's pass.

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