From The Touchlines

NO.1: Manchester United’s Michael Carrick draws first blood when he lobs the ball beyond AS Roma keeper Alexander Doni for United’s first goal in the sensational 7-1 drubbing of the Italian team.

AS Roma could have sworn they were playing a different team from a week ago, when they were soundly beaten by a resurgent Manchester United side 7-1 – yes, S-E-V-E-N – in the UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg.

The win means United go through on a 8-3 on aggregate – turning a seemingly helpless 2-1 deficit into a scintillating win.

All the sweeter, it was in front of the Old Trafford faithful, who were treated to a night of a superb performance by United that left Roma utterly humiliated.

The Red Devils began the match with four key players missing, most notably Paul Scholes, who was suspended because of his sending off in the preceding leg in Stadio Olimpico last week.

Right from the whistle though, United went barging into the Roma half, looking to get on the scoreboard before Roma could blink an eye.

But it was Roma skipper Francesco Totti who notched the first real chance of the match after six minutes, when he lashed in a drive that just whisked off the far post.

With virtually their first chance of the match six minutes later, Michael Carrick put the home side ahead with a beautiful lob past a rooted Alexander Doni, who was hopelessly out of position.

But the chance had been created by none other than Portuguese stalwart Cristiano Ronaldo, who mesmerized two defenders with his fancy footwork before picking out an unmarked Carrick running down the middle.

With just two touches, Carrick put the ball into the net and sent the United crowd into a frenzy.

Three minutes after, United were pounding on the Roma goal; this time Ronaldo looking to score his first Champions League goal. But his shot was saved by a flushed Doni.

No sooner was Doni trying to get his footing, he found himself picking the ball out of his net 17 minutes into the match.

This time, a rejuvenated Alan Smith was the predator.

TAKE THAT!: Manchester United’s Alan Smith capped off an amazing comeback from a 14-month injury layoff with United’s second goal in the 7-1 drubbing of AS Roma.

Carrick was instrumental in the set up; with an eagle-eye view he spotted Gabriel Heinze on the left flank. The latter then played the ball into the path of Ryan Giggs, who made a deft pass to Smith.

With Christian Chivu failing to intercept Giggs’ pass, Smith coolly stabbed the ball past Doni, and sent the whole crowd to their feet. Even Sir Alex Ferguson was on his feet.

With the goal, Smith completed a stunning comeback from a horrific injury last season against Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round.

It was Wayne Rooney next on the scoresheet when he finished off a brilliant pass by Giggs down the right from close range. The Roma defence was completely flustered.

Roma were barely able to get a foothold in the match, with Philippe Mexes managing a half-chance after 26 minutes.

Ronaldo threatened the Roma goal again on the half hour mark, when his power strike from 20 yards out just went wide.

Ronaldo then had his powerful freekick saved by Doni 12 minutes later, but Carrick came very close to doubling his tally for the night three minutes from the break, when he saw his pinpoint header blocked by Doni, and the subsequent rebound going wide.

While their closest challengers in the Premiership Chelsea were a goal down against Valencia in the other quarter final fixture at the Estadio Mestalla through a Fernando Morientes goal, United got their fourth with a just a minute of the half remaining.

Ronaldo capped off a fine run and a short one-two with Giggs to shoot past two defenders into the corner of the net, and then reeled away with sheer delight as United virtually sealed their spot in the semi finals of the competition.

In the first minute of injury time, United keeper Edwin van der Sar was called into action when a Totti shot flew straight into his arms. He had been a relative spectator til then.

Two minutes after the restart, United were up and running again. This time, Rooney frayed a few Roman nerves when his shot was just tipped over the bar by Doni.

But goal no. 5 came two minutes after that, with Ronaldo finishing off a fine move by Giggs by knocking in the ball from close range.

Mirko Vucinic, Roma’s hero in the first leg with the winner, could only manage a tame shot that was scooped up easily by van der Sar seven minutes after.

By this time, over in the Estadio Mestalla, Chelsea had drawn themselves back into contention when Andriy Shevchenko scored from close range after 52 minutes.

Chelsea and Valencia were neck-and-neck in Spain, but back at the Theater of Dreams, the nightmare just got worst for Roma.

Carrick, arguably the best player on the pitch, doubled his tally and notched up United’s sixth of the night when he steered the ball high into the top corner, with Doni expertly beaten.

The atmosphere was almost unbelievable with both sets of fans utterly shellshocked.

Giggs was subsequently replaced with Norwegian veteran Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who is no stranger himself to Champions League drama of this stature.

In fact, he stole the winner against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final, and ensured United won the treble.

Smith and Solskjaer both had shots just over the bar within the space of five minutes midway into the second half.

Italian World Cup winner Daniele de Rossi then ensured United did not keep a clean sheet with a nicely taken right-footed shot after 69 minutes.

With the FA Cup semi final against Watford coming up over the weekend, Ferguson opted to take out Carrick, who had been the driving force behind the Devils in the absence of maestro Scholes. Kieran Richardson came on in his place.

Richardson also looked to get into the thick of the action when he saw his shot smothered by a determined Doni with 15 minutes of misery remaining for Roma and their travelling fans.

Alessandro Mancini, who had been very quiet throughout the match (wait, all the Roma players were very quiet throughout the match), then placed a shot that was, as usual, a textbook save for van der Sar.

Another Roma player, the shorter David Pizarro also tried his luck, but came up, literally, short.

United then sprang back to action, with Ronaldo’s pass deep into the box eluding everybody. But the seventh wonder was about to hit Roma in the face really hard.

Patrice Evra, who had replaced John O’Shea earlier in the second half, joined in with a goal of his own when, after receiving Solskjaer’s pass, placed a low shot that caught the inside off the post into the net.

“Manchester Utd 7 AS Roma 1″, read the scoreboard in bright red with seven minutes to go.

A flurry of substitutions by the Romans followed, which did nothing much except to prolong the misery of what had been a disastrous outing for the Eternal City giants.

Ronaldo had virtually the final say of the match, when he forced Doni into a save a minute into injury time.

JUST PLAIN HORRIBLE: AS Roma’s Alexander Doni sits on the pitch in disbelief after Manchester United’s sensational 7-1 win, which saw him picking the ball out of his net most of the time.

The damage, needless to say, had been done a long time ago. Portsmouth are history.

Slump? What slump?