17/12/2002  Manchester United 1 Chelsea 0
 
Diego Forlan struck lucky seven tonight as he steered 
Manchester United into the Worthington Cup semi-finals for the 
first time in eight years.

The £7million Uruguyan, branded a mis-fit earlier in the 
campaign after his abject failures in front of goal, has 
transformed himself into a proven match winner, finishing off 
Chelsea at Old Trafford with the same clinical accuracy which 
defeated Liverpool last month.

His late low shot, which flashed under Carlo Cudicini's 
body 10 minutes from time, sealed a pulsating contest in which 
the imagination of two illustrious attacks was matched only by 
the solidity of the defences, in particular Mikael Silvestre 
and William Gallas.

The French pair performed to such a high standard that a 
seemingly inevitable goalless draw would have done mighty 
justice to their efforts.

But Forlan had other ideas and rattled home David Beckham's 
pass - his seventh goal of the campaign - to set up a 
two-legged semi-final appearance and a most unlikely 
opportunity to reach the Millennium Stadium.

A couple of seasons ago, a Worthington Cup meeting between 
this pair would have resembled a youth team encounter, 
particularly given the serious nature of the duo's Premiership 
push.

However, a revision of thinking seems to have taken 
place.

While Ruud van Nistelrooy was given a welcome rest, 
Beckham, Juan Veron and Fabien Barthez were among the United 
starters, while visitors' boss Claudio Ranieri kept his pledge 
to field a full strength side.

The result was a slick encounter, full of fizzing 
first-time passes which would have ripped lesser defences to 
shreds.

Fortunately, the rearguards on show are two of the 
strongest in the domestic game, so the deadlock had still not 
been broken by the interval.

There were at least half a dozen decent chances to open the 
scoring but two fine curling Paul Scholes shots brought no 
reward, while Enrique de Lucas wasted the Londoners' best 
opportunity when he fired Jody Morris' far post cross wide 
from a position of immense promise.

As befitting a man with the confidence of a new four-year 
contract in his back pocket, Silvestre was in good form at the 
heart of United's back four, fellow countryman Barthez also 
impressing with a couple of good saves, even if his failure to 
collect a Gianfranco Zola corner forced Phil Neville to hack 
clear inside his own six-yard area.

Continuing the French flavour, Gallas also provided a 
moment of defensive inspiration when his captain, John Terry, 
produced the only potentially catastrophic blunder of the half 
when he allowed himself to be robbed by Forlan, leading the 
United forward line in van Nistelrooy's absence.

Presented with a two-on-one situation, Forlan's first 
instinct was to turn the ball in the path of the better-placed 
Scholes.

Gallas had already worked that one out though and blocked 
the path before closing down on the Uruguayan and then robbing 
him completely when Forlan attempted to turn inside.

Mario Melchiot was equally impressive in racing back to 
hook a Ryan Giggs lob clear after Cudicini had raced out of 
his area without reaching a bouncing punt forward.

Neville and Terry were both cautioned for crunching tackles 
on Mario Stanic and Forlan respectively which illustrated a 
keen desire for victory, only reinforced by Stanic's crude 
lunge on Beckham which launched the second period with another 
yellow card.

The pattern of the first half continued, with defenders 
tending to shine, Gallas again matching Forlan for pace before 
muscling the United striker off the ball when set for a run on 
goal.

At the other end, Silvestre atoned for Giggs' mis-placed 
pass with a perfectly-timed sliding tackle on de Lucas before 
central defensive partner Wes Brown did well to hold off Jimmy 
Floyd Hasselbaink when the Dutchman had the glint of goal in 
his eye.

Chelsea were pressing with increasing confidence, forcing 
United into some desperate defending, Gary Neville flying out 
to block Frank Lampard's goal-bound effort before Brown 
produced a superbly-timed tackle inside his own area with Zola 
threatening to burst clean through.

With Giggs having one of his more sporadic nights, Forlan 
was left exposed up front and the visitors were able to 
collect most of the home clearances and plunge the ball 
straight back into enemy territory.

But, after reviving his United career from a position of 
such uncertainty, the Uruguayan was not about to give up on 
another seemingly lost cause.

When Beckham took possession he drifted into space then 
finished off with a ruthlessness barely imaginable just two 
months ago.

Chelsea forced themselves forward looking for an equaliser 
but it was Forlan who wasted the final chance, firing wide 
from a Beckham cut back, although a second would have been an 
injustice to the visitors' fine efforts.