Manchester United Arsenal through

FC Porto had history would be on their side...no outside team had beaten them in their own backyard in Portugal. They were also looking for a repeat of their performace last week at Old Trafford when they drew 2-2 with Manchester United in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. But ManU had restored their defense with Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand reunited, and the only time FC Porto came close to a scoring chance in the first-half was when a 30-yard free-kick by Bruno Alves narrowly missed the goalpost.

It was Manchester United who stunned their hosts when in the sixth minute FIFA World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo (photo AFP) scored from a 35-yard kick into the top left-hand corner of Porto's goal. "That was maybe one of my best strikes," conceded Ronaldo. "Anderson gave me the ball and when I turned I knew I was going to go for a shot. It was intentional."



With a 1-0 win, Manchester United are through to the Champions League semi-finals on an aggregate score of 3-2. Meanwhile Arsenal defeated Villarreal 3-0 at Emirates Stadium to go through 4-1 on aggregate, making it three English clubs in the semifinals. Walcott chipped the ball over goalkeeper Diego Lopez in the 10th minute to give Arsenal the lead, while the other two goals were scored by Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie. In the first leg of the semifinals, Manchester United will play Arsenal at Old Trafford on April 29, and then travel to London for the second leg on May 5.