Little Pea shooter
MANCHESTER UTD 2 vs MARSEILLE 1
Man Utd win 2-1 on aggregate
MANCHESTER?UNITED manager Sir Alex Ferguson hailed the blossoming partnership between match-winner Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney as his side booked their place in quarter finals of the Champions League for the fifth year in a row.
Mexico poacher Hernandez struck a goal in each half to see off stubborn Marseille, who were given brief hope of pulling off a shock when Wes Brown put through his own net with eight minutes remaining.
United saw out the closing stages in nervy fashion having suffered further defensive injuries to John O’Shea and Rafael, but Ferguson believes with his front two in such hot form United will have more than enough firepower to offset any concerns over a lack of defensive personnel.
“The boy has goals in him,” said Ferguson of Hernandez, who is currently keeping 20 goal top scorer Dimitar Berbatov out of the side. “The partnership between him and Wayne has been developing well.
“Where Wayne has been playing in the past couple of games he is a real threat. He has such power and speed and Hernandez is unbelievable with his movement.”
Hernandez, nicknamed Little Pea, got United off to a flyer in the fifth minute, converting at the far post after Rooney had dragged a shot across the face of goal.
Andre-Pierre Gignac and Souleymane Diawara missed to fabulous chances for the visitors before the break and the French champions were on top when Hernandez appeared to have settled the tie in the 75th minute with another close range finish.
Brown’s error from a corner set up a tense finale as a makeshift United rearguard clung on. The?Premier League leaders were without skipper and defensive colossus Nemanja Vidic, who picked up a calf problem in last weekend’s FA?Cup win over Arsenal, and Ferguson was coy when asked how long the Serbia defender would be out for.
He said: We’ll have to wait and see [on Vidic],” he said. “Jonny Evans started training this week so hopefully he will back. It was nervy tonight because so many players came off with injuries and it shifted the balance of team.”