Schalke 0 Manchester Utd 2:Two goals in three second half minutes from Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney have put Manchester United on the brink of a place in the Champions League final at Wembley on May 28th.

Barring an improbable triumph for Schalke in eight days’ time, United will return to the venue where they won the first of their three European Cups in 1968 to face either Real Madrid and Barcelona.

They will probably be relieved too given they had wasted an incredible 13 chances in a one-sided contest before Giggs profited from Rooney’s through ball and the England striker capped a fine individual display by turning home a second from Javier Hernandez’s pass.

United’s goal came under threat inside the opening 30 seconds when a Giggs pass cannoned into Rooney.

The loose ball fell kindly for Alexander Baumjohann, whose long range effort was comfortably dealt with by Edwin van der Sar.

Rooney came perilously close to finding the net when his curling effort from the angle of the penalty area struck Atsuto Uchida and was heading in until the outstanding Manuel Neuer clawed it away.

The visitors created another opportunity shortly afterwards when Park Ji-sung cut in off the left flank after collecting Rooney’s crossfield pass. Schalke’s defence opened up for the Korean, whose shot was beaten away by Neuer.

Antonio Valencia then provided Hernandez with a shooting opportunity but the Mexican’s effort lacked power. Baumjohann was off target at the other end with a shot from the edge of the area.

An impressive burst from halfway took Fabio into the Schalke penalty area. If the full back had been able to find Rooney, the man who was sent off for England on his last appearance at this stadium would have had a tap-in. Instead, a stray Schalke boot turned the ball back to Neuer.

United should have gone in front moments later when Park’s through ball beat the Schalke offside trap to set Hernandez free inside the home box. The Mexican had to turn but he should have done better than tamely stroke a shot straight at Neuer.

Hans Sarpel’s poor clearing header offered Hernandez a chance to shoot, which he thrashed into the side-netting.

More sloppiness in possession allowed Rooney to send Hernandez charging into the box. However, instead of going for goal from an admittedly narrow angle, the 19-goal forward tried to cut a pass back to Rooney and Schalke escaped.

Ferguson’s only complaint could have been United’s failure to score and another chance went begging as Valencia provided a through-ball for Hernandez, whose shot flashed across goal with no-one at the far post to take advantage.

Giggs was next to fail after Fabio had picked Nemanja Vidic out at the far post and the United skipper crossed. Again, though, Neuer was the hero, turning away the Welshman’s header as it bounced up off the ground.

Christoph Metzelder was booked for hauling down Rooney, then Neuer denied Hernandez with another fine stop and Uchida flew in to prevent Park belting home the rebound.

Van der Sar was a virtual bystander at the other end as Valencia crossed for Park, whose nod-down fell kindly for Fabio, who lashed a half-volley over the bar.

Valencia got away with bundling Baumjohann over in the box a reminder in itself that the hosts should not be taken lightly no matter how much dominance United enjoyed.

Rooney sent Giggs clean through in the final minute of the half but again Neuer came out on top, denying the veteran with a fine one-handed save.

Within the first five minutes of the second half, Giggs had picked out Michael Carrick with a curling free-kick, only for Neuer to tip over. The Welshman then cut in from the wing as Park had done earlier but with his weaker right foot was way off target and when Hernandez finally found the net, he was flagged offside.

Schalke finally created a chance a couple of minutes later, which Jose Jurado wasted.

Baumjohann was replaced by Peer Kluge after 53 minutes but the change did not stem the flow of United attacks.

Vidic got on the end of Valencia’s near post cross but failed to get decent contact as he tried to flick the ball home.

Fabio was booked for clattering into Jurado but Schalke wasted the free-kick and as United countered, Patrice Evra got a volley from Rooney for not releasing him, instead trying to pick Valencia, who was offside.

Vidic turned away Uchida’s cross as the hosts finally began to get into a game in which they should have been dead and buried.

Under pressure from Edu, Rio Ferdinand turned Raul’s cross behind for a corner, which Schalke wasted. Edu then tested Van der Sar with a long-range effort.

But finally, United got their breakthrough. Rooney was the inspiration, sending Giggs clear of the Schalke defence once more. This time the veteran Welshman did not miss, calmly stroking home a left-footed shot.

Within three minutes, United had a crucial second. This time Hernandez was the provider, sweeping a first-time pass to Rooney, who finished with clinical ease.

United made two changes shortly afterwards, introducing Anderson and Paul Scholes for Hernandez and Park in a bid to shore up the midfield.

Rooney was then replaced by Nani eight minutes from time as thoughts turned to Sunday’s Premier League trip to Arsenal.