Joy in Spain for Jose while Fergie's men romp past Roma

14 April 2012

Chelsea and Manchester United roared into the Champions League semi-finals on a night which established the Premiership as the powerhouse of European football.

Andriy Shevchenko and a late goal by Michael Essien sealed Chelsea's 2-1 win in Valencia while United crushed Roma 7-1 at Old Trafford.

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Reign in Spain: Chelsea's Ballack and Essien celebrate

Essien - playing his first game for a month after recovering from a knee ligament injury - gave Chelsea a memorable European night in Spain - the first victory in the Mestalla stadium by an English club since Leeds's triumph 40 years ago

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said: "It was a great performance in the second half against a good team and in a difficult stadium and when we were losing 1-0.

"At half-time we were out but in the second half we were amazing, very dominant and there was only one team in it."

Mourinho said he was preparing for extra time when Essien scored the last-minute winner.

"I was thinking it was unfair we had not won in the 90 minutes especially as (Valencia goalkeeper) Santiago Canizares made two great saves and I was telling them to get the drinks ready for extra time when I saw the ball in the net.

"Then I knew the game was over. It happened to me with Porto when we scored at Old Trafford in the last minute and it is like a 'golden goal'. It was a great emotion."

His team are now likely to face Liverpool, who take a 3-0 lead into tonight's home leg against PSV Eindhoven, and United will meet either Bayern Munich or AC Milan.

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United scorers Ronaldo and Smith

Sir Alex Ferguson hailed United's win as the greatest European night of his 20-year reign.

Ferguson said: "We never expected to win 7-1 but the quality of our game was so high.

"It was a fantastic performance. Our speed of play and penetration was superb.

"It was a special night and every one of our goals were quality. We did our job against a very good team.

"The early goal gave us the confidence to go at Roma and that's absolutely the best night of European football we've had here. The scoreline tells you that."

After the clashes between police and United fans in Rome, there was some trouble outside Old Trafford involving the visitors' notorious 'ultras'.

Police confirmed there were 18 arrests but no serious injuries were reported.

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