From The Touchlines

IT’S GOING IN: AC Milan’s goalkeeper Dida tries in vain to stop Cristiano Ronaldo’s header for the opening goal from going in, although Gabriel Heinze made sure he didn’t get anywhere near the ball in their Champions League semifinal encounter at Old Trafford. United won 3-2.

It took a last-gasp winner from Wayne Rooney to give Manchester United a slight edge over AC Milan, edging out the Italian champions 3-2 in their first leg Champions League semifinal encounter at Old Trafford.

Newly crowned PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier given United a first-half lead, before Milan’s Kaka nailed two in 15 minutes in the first half to give Milan the slightest of advantage.

But as it turned out, Rooney was the toast of Old Trafford as he made the playing field level in the second half, before shocking the Red Devils of Italy with a well-taken goal.

United had begun the match without three of their first-team defenders – Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, and Sir Alex Ferguson opted to play his players in a 4-3-3 position with Rooney, Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs upfront.

Alan Smith was left on the bench together with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In fact, there was no substitution on the part of United to speak of.

United began bright an early, when after five minutes Darren Fletcher placed the perfect throughball to Rooney, but only for the latter’s shot to be deflected over the bar by Italian World Cup winner Alessandro Nesta with a sliding tackle.

It only took the resulting corner, and as United had done numerous times, converted an early chance when Ronaldo’s header was deflected by Dida, and though the Brazilian tried to stop it, could only parry the ball into his own net.

Ronaldo struck wide three minutes later, before having a header on target after 10 minutes.

Milan seemed to get a wake up call then as they held on to possession well to try and find a quick equaliser, with Kaka having his shot saved by Edwin van der Sar a minute after.

Ronaldo soon showed what he was made of when he bamboozled through the Milan defence marshalled by team skipper Paolo Maldini, but found himself wanting as the Milan backline was alert to his tricks.

However, the Milan defence was put to a stern test moments later, when United were allowed to place passes deep in the Milan half.

But with a really telling pass from Giggs, Michael Carrick tried his luck with a little luck on goal, though Dida was equal to the task of smothering Carrick’s miscued effort.

The resulting corner was dealt with easily by Milan.

Milan then gave their defenders a break when the strikeforce, headed by Kaka, went on the offensive again to level matters at the Theater of Dreams, but the attack yielded nothing in return.

But halfway through the second half, the score changed.

Three-times Champions League winner Clarence Seedorf, who had been inspirational in Milan’s last win over Bayern Munich, placed a perfect pass which Kaka latched on with ease.

PARITY RESTORED: AC Milan’s Kaka (right) celebrates the equalising goal against Manchester United in their Champions League first leg semifinal encounter at Old Trafford. United won 3-2.

And with stand-in centreback Gabriel Heinze hot on his heels, Kaka still managed to strike the ball past van der Sar into the far corner of the net to make it 1-1 and one precious away goal.

Five minutes later, Giggs squandered a good chance to restore the lead when he headed just over the bar from Fletcher’s cross.

It was the same story for Rooney on the half-hour mark, when he failed to connect with a deep Giggs low cross.

Ronaldo then had another shot on target when, instead of power, opted for precision, and made Dida look uncomfortable before the latter pushed the shot away.

The crisis in United’s defence, however, was really showing.

A mix up between Heinze and Patrice Evra paved the way for Kaka, who produced a clean strike into the net after a one-on-one with van der Sar (below) after 38 minutes.

It would seem like Milan were starting to get a foothold of the match.

And so it was when playmaker Kaka then brought out a fine save from van der Sar, as the former’s stinging drive from way out was too hot to handle.

Nesta followed up with a header from the resulting corner, but it was just over the bar.

United’s problems in defence took another blow when Evra, already on a yellow card from previous matches, made a tackle on Massimo Oddo, which the referee deemed it fit to flash a yellow card in his face.

This means United will have FOUR first-team defenders missing from the return leg at the San Siro, and will entirely have to rely on a not-always-so convincing United makeshift defence.

Evra was really walking on thin ice after that with a professional foul on Gennaro Gattuso just before the break, and left the latter not particularly amused.

Gattuso had to leave the pitch temporarily for treatment, but was back on soon enough.

The ensuing freekick by Andrea Pirlo was wayward.

While Carlo Ancelotti was overtly the happier manager at the break, Ferguson was not about to press the panic button just yet, although his players would have gotten an earful from him in the dressing room.

Well, Ferguson’s hairdryer sessions are, to say the least, critically-acclaimed.

OK, joke’s over. Now back to business.

Milan made an unusual switch at halftime when Ancelotti chose to rest Maldini and brought on Daniele Bonera in his place. Ancelotti would subsequently make more changes in his defence throughout the second half.

The pep talk by Fergie at halftime seemed to work on the United players, with Carrick striking agonisingly wide three minutes on.

But there was a stoppage five minutes later, when Gattuso had to be taken off after he had apparently failed to shake off the knock caused by Evra.

Cristian Brocchi came on to take his spot.

Kaka picked up where he left off in the first half when he beat the offside trap to latch onto the ball, but was found wanting as his drive from a relatively tight angle rolled harmlessly wide.

The Brazilian playmaker then started a beautiful move four minutes later, but this time Wes Brown stopped him in his tracks with a good tackle.

But two minutes later, it was game on again.

Rooney, upon receiving a lofted pass down the middle and surrounded by buzzing Milan defenders, managed to steer himself away from them with a fine first touch.

Even an onrushing Dida could not prevent the England forward from shooting just right, and though the retired Brazilian got a hand to it (below), could not stop it from going into goal.

It was THE goal United had been waiting for to spur them on to try and find the winner, as Rooney urged his teammates on to not give up (above).

Subsequently United had a good spell in the Milan half, fraying a few nerves along the way, but not being as lethal as they were against AS Roma.

Fletcher was possibly having the best match since the tie against Roma, when he fired a shot into the path of Dida after 69 minutes, who only just managed to push the midfielder’s strike out.

A series of freekicks for United in an oh-so-wonderful position saw Giggs striking the ball just off the far post, and another was easily saved by Dida, all in the space of four minutes.

Milan were feeling the heat of a much changed United side, with Kaka piling his fouls more than creating chances.

On both ends, John O’Shea and Andrea Pirlo produced relatively easy saves for the shot stoppers on the night with 15 minutes to go.

Rooney struck wide four minutes later, before fellow teammates Ronaldo and Fletcher nearly nailed the winner for the Red Devils of England.

YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?: Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs and AC Milan’s Kaka locked horns as the second half steamed into action. Both players were yellow carded.

After Ancelotti made his final substitution by bringing on Yoann Gourcuff for the inefficient Alberto Gilardino, it would seem the Milan manager was happy to take this scoreline with him back to Italy.

But just when anybody thought the match was heading for a draw, Giggs again produced another scintillating display when he stole the ball from substitute Brocchi in his own half, before managing a run down the right flank and placing an inch-perfect pass to Rooney.

And before anyone knew anything, Rooney struck with the killer touch a minute into injury time with a first-time taken fierce drive that was well beyond the reach of Dida (below).

Old Trafford erupted like never before; Fergie was, undoubtedly, delighted.

With the most slender of advantages, United are just a little ahead of their Italian counterparts going into the second leg at the San Siro.

But a psychological blow was, inadvertently, delivered in Milan’s face.

However, it’s all still to play for in the return match next week as United go in search of their second treble.