Moscow: Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was
Manchester United's hero as Sir Alex Ferguson's side claimed the club's third European Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over
Chelsea on a night of almost unbearable drama in Moscow. As many had predicted, the competition's first all-English final ended in penalties and ultimately it was van der Sar's full-length save from Nicolas Anelka that ensured United won the shoot-out 6-5 after the match had ended 1-1 after extra-time. The triumph ensured ensured a season that has seen United mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster ended with both the
Premier League and
Champions League trophies back at Old Trafford. Chelsea had their chance to claim the trophy for the first time after Cristiano Ronaldo had had his effort saved by Petr Cech. But captain John Terry pushed his spot-kick - Chelsea's fifth - wide of the target. It was hard on the London club, who could justifiably claim to have come closest to winning the match in the two hours that preceded the dramatic finale. It was also debatable whether Terry would have taken a penalty had Didier Drogba not been sent off shortly before the end of extra-time for tapping Nemanja Vidic on the face as several players on either side squared up to each other. United's early domination had yielded a deserved opener in the form of Ronaldo's 26th-minute header, the Portuguese winger's 42nd goal of an extraordinary season. But after failing to take the chances that followed, Ferguson's men were pegged back by Frank Lampard's equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Chelsea went on to dominate after the break and almost claimed a winner when Drogba's 25-yard shot came back off the post with van der Sar beaten. Chelsea struck the woodwork again in the opening period of extra-time, Lampard's cute shot on the turn bouncing off the bar with United's goalkeeper once more struggling. Substitute Ryan Giggs then had a glorious chance to mark his record-breaking 759th appearance for United in style but the veteran winger never really connected with Patrice Evra's cutback and Terry was able to head the ball to safety. With the exception of Park Ji-Sung's exclusion from United's match-day squad, there were no surprises in the personnel on display, although Ferguson did tweak United's usual shape. Owen Hargreaves was deployed on the right side of midfield with Ronaldo in the left-sided role that Park had been tipped to fill. With Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez alongside each other in attack, Ferguson also departed from the lone-striker policy. Michael Essien's relative inexperience at right-back may have influenced United's thinking and it was the Ghanaian's poor positioning that enabled United to take the lead.
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