Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Barca grind out win in Gelsenkirchen

Barcelona have put themselves in pole position for a Champions League semi-final spot after 17-year-old Bojan Krkic scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.

The Catalans were far from their best on the night but Schalke only started putting them under pressure in the final half hour and couldn't find a deserved equaliser.

Barcelona took the lead after just 12 minutes when Rafinha was caught trying to play the offside trap and Thierry Henry was allowed to latch onto a lovely ball by Andres Iniesta.

Henry then cut inside and side footed a poor shot towards goal, however, Manuel Neuer who was superb in the previous round against Porto, spilled the ball, allowing the off-balance Henry the chance to poke it across the goal for Bojan to tap in from close range.

With the goal Bojan, aged just 17 years and 217 days, becomes the second youngest goalscorer in Champions League history after former Olympiacos man Peter Ofori-Quaye.

Ronaldo and Rooney conquer Rome

Manchester United have one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating Roma 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Manchester United have one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating Roma 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 36th goal of the season - and his seventh in Europe - before Wayne Rooney scored a second to give the Premier League side an advantage of two away goals to take into the second leg of the quarter-final at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo timed his run well to burst forward with power to meet Paul Scholes's chipped cross and nod a solid header past goalkeeper Alexandre Doni as half-time was looming.

Rooney scored against Roma in the 1-0 win at Old Trafford during the group stage, and reacted quickly when Park Ji-Sung headed Wes Brown's diagonal ball back across goal. The ball broke free after confusion between Doni and Cristian Panucci, and Rooney pounced to bundle it over the line from close range.