London - Holders Manchester United sauntered into the final of the Champions League with a confident 3-1 victory at Arsenal on Tuesday to seal a 4-1 aggregate triumph. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and Ji-Sung Park got the other goal as United dominated Arsenal to set up a final against either Chelsea or Barcelona, who meet on Wednesday, having drawn the first leg in Spain.
The only disappointment for United was the sending-off of Darren Fletcher on 75 minutes which means the midfielder will miss the final.
Fletcher was sent off for the challenge - Robin van Persie converted the penalty - and though television replays showed Fletcher had in fact got the ball, the rules do not allow an appeal.
Arsenal had spoken in the build-up about taking the game to United and they did begin brightly but the tie was over as a contest inside 11 minutes and it was two mistakes from the Gunners that cost them any chance.
In front of a watching David Beckham, who won the Champions League with United in 1999, United took the lead on eight minutes when Kieran Gibbs slipped in the penalty box and allowed Ronaldo's pull-back to find Park, who dinked the ball over Manuel Almunia in the Arsenal goal.
Three minutes later, Almunia was the guilty party as he allowed a fiercely struck free kick from Ronaldo to beat him at his near post to make it 2-0.
Wayne Rooney forced a good save from Almunia, but the rest of the first half was relatively uneventful as Arsenal could not overcome their early mistakes.
And on 61 minutes, the match was well and truly over. Ronaldo set United on the counter-attack with a neat flick, Park fed Rooney, who found Ronaldo bursting into the area and the Portugal forward lashed the ball into the roof of the net to make it 3-0.
That was the signal for many Arsenal fans to head home, but they missed Fletcher's controversial dismissal as he hooked a foot around Cesc Fabregas to toe the ball away, but referee Roberto Rosetti ruled it was a penalty and showed Fletcher the red card.
The victory means United are now one win away from becoming the first team to successfully defend the title since AC Milan followed up their 1989 triumph with victory in 1990.
