Man U to meet Gunners

PORTO – Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson predicted a ‘terrific’ all-English Champions League clash with Arsenal after his team disposed of Porto in the quarter-finals Wednesday.

The reigning European champions became the first English team to win in Porto and will now meet Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal for a place in the Rome final after the London team swept past Villareal.
‘It would be tough no matter who we played, but the fact it is another English side gives it a different type of spice,’ Ferguson said.
‘Our game earlier in the season was fantastic. It was the way football should be played.
‘We are two good footballing sides, so it should be a terrific semi-final and we are looking forward to it.’
United were grateful to returning Portugal superstar Ronaldo whose stunning 35-yard strike gave United a 1-0 win on the night and 3-2 victory on aggregate.
Ferguson admitted he would settle for a low scoring victory when the Gunners visit Old Trafford in the first-leg on April 29.
‘The first leg is at home, so 1-0 would be perfect for us. But it is not going to be easy,’ he said.
Although the Scot had generous words for his opponents, the two clubs have not always seen eye-to-eye recently with many fixtures boiling over.
The most famous incident was the so called ‘pizzagate’ affair in 2004 when an Arsenal player splattered Ferguson with pizza after United had controversially brought the London club’s 49-match unbeaten run to an end.
The return fixture saw a tunnel fracas between then captains Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira after the Arsenal man had squared up to United defender Gary Neville.
However, the two clubs have since made peace efforts and their games have become more memorable for the quality of football on show.
If they succeed in beating Arsenal in Europe and Everton in this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final, United will be confident of becoming the first team to win a quintuple of trophies in the same season.
The boss of United’s treble winners in 1999 remained cautious, but saw the return of his defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand, who had been out with a groin injury, and Nemanja Vidic as key to his team’s pursuit.
– Nampa-AFP