Focused Rooney puts best foot forward for United

(Reuters) - Wayne Rooney let his feet do the talking as he capped a superb all-round display with the only goal at Chelsea on Wednesday to give Manchester United the clear advantage in their Champions League quarter-final.

Rooney faces a two-game domestic ban for swearing into a TV camera after scoring against West Ham United on Saturday but he was the consummate professional in the 1-0 United win at Stamford Bridge.

He sidefooted past Petr Cech after 24 minutes following a perfect pull-back by Ryan Giggs to send United confidently into next Tuesday’s return at Old Trafford, where they have been formidable all season.

The goal was the icing on a particularly tasty cake for the England striker, who looked sharp, committed and absolutely up for the job in hand despite the latest off-field distraction.

“His performance was tremendous, he is now scoring more regularly,” United manager Alex Ferguson told reporters after the re-run of the 2008 final when his men were also victorious, after penalties.

“Wayne was in tremendous form. Excellent, absolutely superb. (His) work rate, desire to play is marvellous. He got a lot of abuse tonight, he got a lot of late tackles on him but he got up and played.

“It shows the courage of the player. He takes great credit.”

Chelsea will feel aggrieved that they are not travelling north level at 1-1 after the Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco ignored a strong stoppage-time penalty claim when Patrice Evra brought down Ramires.

“Everyone saw what happened -- you can see it clearly on the TV -- but the most important person (the referee) didn’t see it,” said Chelsea keeper Cech.

Chelsea should be more concerned with their own frailties, however, as they struggled to impose themselves.

TORRID NIGHT

A scramble late in the first half when Didier Drogba hit a post and Frank Lampard’s rebound was cleared off the line was the nearest they came to scoring. Squeezed for space in midfield and around the United box they looked short of ideas.

Fernando Torres endured another torrid night as never looked close to breaking his goal drought which now stretches to nine games at his new club.

The desperate Spaniard’s final contribution was to get booked for diving in a vain bid to secure a penalty under a challenge from Antonio Valencia.

United had arrived looking for their first win at Stamford Bridge in 10 games stretching back to 2002 but they looked sharper from the off.

Rio Ferdinand was back after an 11-game absence and his reliable partnership with Nemanja Vidic swamped Torres and forced Didier Drogba to hunt wide and deep for scraps of possession.

Organised in defence and quick to break, United created an excellent counter-attacking goal when Michael Carrick swept a pass into the path of Giggs.

The Welsh winger killed the ball with his first touch, hit the byline and pulled it back into the path of Rooney who steered it past Cech via a post.

Torres’s only notable contribution of the first half was to miss Drogba’s cross-shot, wrong-footing Edwin van der Sar and allowing the ball to hit a post. An off-balance Lampard got a piece of the rebound but Evra scrambled back in time to clear it off the line.

Ancelotti spent most of the second half standing hands-on-hips in his technical area while the Chelsea fans were reduced to near-silence as their side huffed and puffed with little obvious sign that they would break through.

The Italian eventually sent on Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda for Drogba and Yuri Zhirkov but little changed.

Cech had to stay alert to twice deny substitute Nani while Torres mistimed a header with his best chance of the night.

Ancelotti usually faces a routine post-match grilling on his misfiring Spanish striker but this time it was the opposition centre forward occupying his thoughts.

“He is a fantastic player, fantastic tryer and it’s not just today I am saying this,” he said of Rooney.

“He worked very hard, he played very well and scored a fantastic goal for his team.”

Barca crush Shakhtar as Real showdown looms

(Reuters) - Barcelona took a giant stride towards securing a likely semi-final against arch rivals Real Madrid when they swept to a 5-1 demolition of Shakhtar Donetsk in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

Andres Iniesta starred for the rampant 2009 winners, three days after becoming a father for the first time, scoring Barca’s opener in the second minute at the Nou Camp and creating a second for Daniel Alves just after the half hour.

Gerard Pique added to the home side’s tally in the second half and their domination was only briefly checked by a Yaroslav Rakitskiy goal before Seydou Keita and Xavi put Barca almost out of sight ahead of next week’s second leg in Ukraine.

A mouthwatering all-Spanish semi-final is a near certainty following Real’s 4-0 drubbing of Tottenham Hotspur at the Bernabeu on Tuesday, meaning the La Liga giants would meet an incredible four times in just over two weeks.

They play in the domestic league on April 16 and clash in the final of Spain’s King’s Cup four days later and would bid for a place in May 28’s Champions League final over two legs in the last week of April and the first week of May.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola had warned against underestimating Shakhtar, who recorded a shock 3-2 win at the Nou Camp in December 2008 before Barca went on to win the final and Shakhtar triumphed in the UEFA Cup.

The two teams also met in the final of the European Super Cup in 2009 when a Pedro strike in extra time sealed a 1-0 win for the Spanish side.

“The result is not definitive,” Guardiola said in a television interview. “They are a very good team.”

“I am more than happy. Looking at our opponent tonight I could not be anything else with a 5-1 victory,” he added later.

Spain midfielder Iniesta, scorer of the only goal in last year’s World Cup final, punished a Shakhtar defensive error and gave Barca the perfect start when he picked up a loose ball and burst through to finish low inside the near post.

Brazil fullback Alves raced through unmarked on to Iniesta’s curled pass to double the home side’s lead in the 34th minute and centre half Pique made it 3-0 eight minutes after halftime with a deflected shot from a corner.

Yaroslav Rakitskiy briefly checked Barca in the 59th minute when he flicked the ball past Victor Valdes but Mali midfielder Keita smashed the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area a minute later.

Xavi tapped in the fifth from an Alves centre after 86 minutes to make what had looked a potentially tricky second leg in Donetsk appear a formality.

“I was lucky to have been able to score so early and help the team after the birth of my daughter,” Iniesta said in a television interview.