Men against boys | How United rated | How Arsenal rated | United marching on Rome | How the action unfolded
Patrick Barclay’s verdict | Matt Dickinson: Ferguson closes on greatness | Cascarino: Arsenal found wanting
Sympathy no consolation for Fletcher | Graphic: Talking tactics | Graphic: Breaking point

Football is a game played in the present and, no matter that Arsène Wenger may believe that he has the power to speed up the sands of time, history will show these to be years of famine for Arsenal while an insatiable hunger takes Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United to the brink of a glorious fourth European Cup triumph, in Rome.

This was men against boys, United not so much beating Arsenal as teaching them and their manager a harsh lesson about the realities from which they have hidden for too long.

While Wenger waits for his young players to gain the experience vital to any team with serious aspirations, United live for the here and now, with Cristiano Ronaldo, the World Player of the Year, propelling them to a second successive Champions League final with two goals, the first a stupendous long-range free kick and the second the result of a magnificent counter-attack.

By 7.56pm, just 11 minutes into the game, it was all over, Arsenal’s youngsters caught cold like rabbits in a set of headlights. Ronaldo, setting up the first goal for Park Ji Sung before scoring twice, had his most rewarding evening of a campaign in which he has frequently appeared to be pining for Real Madrid, but this cannot go down as an individual triumph. It was simply a collision between two talented teams, one building towards a bright future and the other existing for and flourishing in the present.

Wenger may in some way draw solace from the stellar performance of Ronaldo, a player who often suffered stage fright in his youth but relishes the big occasions these days, yet United were superior in every department over both legs of this semi-final.

Built on strong foundations, with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic winning everything against a disappointing Emmanuel Adebayor, Ferguson’s team out-thought and, perhaps most worryingly for Wenger, outclassed Arsenal in both matches. They also outmanoeuvred them, with Darren Fletcher, Wayne Rooney and Park epitomising the team’s willingness to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

That selflessness, that self-sacrifice, came at a cost for Fletcher, who will miss the final after he was cruelly sent off for bringing down Cesc Fàbregas for the penalty from which Robin van Persie gave Arsenal the most meagre of consolations with 15 minutes left.

That was the only blemish on a golden night for United as Park’s eighth-minute goal, followed within three minutes by a free kick from Ronaldo that embarrassed Manuel Almunia, set the tone for a night on which reality bit hard for Wenger, who must do more than simply convince himself that his players will emerge stronger for a chastening experience.

Arsenal’s performance was callow, Fàbregas being among many of their players who did not perform, but it was Almunia, at 31 the oldest of their starting lineup by some distance, who will look back with the biggest grimace. There has been a curious bandwagon gathering pace over the past week, based on a strong performance in the first leg at Old Trafford, that the uncapped Spaniard should become England’s goalkeeper when he qualifies for a British passport in July, but, after he was beaten by Ronaldo’s free kick, the chants of “England’s No 1” from the visiting supporters were entirely sarcastic.

Wenger’s players were already broken by that point, having been left with a mountain to climb by Park’s goal. United deserve great credit for the way that they carved open the Arsenal defence in those early stages, but they can scarcely have believed just how easy it was as Anderson mopped up a poor header from Bacary Sagna and slipped a clever pass into the space behind Kolo Touré.

Johan Djourou was dragged across to cover, but Ronaldo got to the ball first. The United forward’s cross was underhit, but Kieran Gibbs’s untimely stumble left Park with the chance to take a touch before beating Almunia as he fell.

Gibbs was unfortunate, but Almunia, three minutes later, simply got his angles wrong. It would take an expert in aerodynamics to explain how Ronaldo hits his free kicks with a venom that carries the ball this way and that or, just occasionally, keeps it straight as an arrow. But for all that, for all the staggering confidence of a young man who stands over a ball from 41 yards and believes that he will score, this was a shot that Almunia should have saved.

United had arrived at a comfort zone beyond their wildest dreams, but you would not have known it. Michael Carrick, Rooney, Park and Fletcher continued to harry as if their lives depended on it. The only player who appeared to be putting in a comparable shift for the home team was Theo Walcott, but he was frustrated by the obduracy of a strong full back in Patrice Evra. The contrast between Evra and Gibbs was stark.

The visiting supporters crowed that it was, ahem, remarkably easy, calling to mind a famous League Cup victory at Highbury in December 1990, when Ryan Giggs was preparing to make his tentative first steps in Ferguson’s team. Giggs, now 35, appeared as a substitute early in second half, but not before United had scored a goal of magnificent quality on the counter-attack, Vidic climbing highest to clear the danger from a corner and starting a move in which the ball was switched at pace between Ronaldo, Park, Rooney and back to Ronaldo, who scored with ease. “Marvellous,” Ferguson purred.

Van Persie’s penalty and the dismissal of Fletcher could not dampen the enthusiasm from United’s supporters. They requested a wave from both Ferguson, who obliged enthusiastically, and Wenger, who ignored them. Not waving but drowning, perhaps. He will come again in the future, of course, but the present belongs to United, a team with the world at their feet and the intoxicating, addictive smell of success wafting into their nostrils.

Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy) Attendance: 59,867