The match between Manchester United and Gamba Osaka has just finished and it is Manchester United who go through to the final on Sunday.

The talk in England is that Man United won't take this competition seriously but the United line-up showed that we are: Van Der Sar, Neville, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Ronaldo, Anderson, Scholes, Nani, Tevez and Giggs all started.

During the first half Osaka showed some attacking threat, they showed that they were prepared to get forward but there was really only one great chance for them which Van Der Sar saved by using his body.

The match started off at a good tempo but it started off with Osaka with more of the possession, Yasuda had a shot off target for Osaka in the 3rd minute when he showed some good skill to get himself some room and have a shot, which went just over the bar.
Lucas also had a shot off target got Osaka, this came in 6th minute, the ball went just past Van Der Sar's post, just before that, Ronaldo had a chance which was a low shot but it was saved by goalie Fujigaya.

Man United and Osaka had a few more chances, Ronaldo's freekick was on target but it lacked any power. Bando had Osaka's best chance of the first half which brought out a great save by Van Der Sar.

United nearly went ahead when Ronaldo moved his way across the 18 yard line and just fired wide, United appealed for a corner but it wasn't.

27 minutes in and there came a few chances for Man United, the first was from Nani who just shot wide and was unlucky, then Ronaldo had a shot on target which deflected of a defender and gave United a corner. Giggs took the corner and some bad defending by Osaka gave United a 1-0 lead.
Vidic jumped higher than the defender and powerfully headed the ball straight past the keeper to give United a goal in the 29th minute.

After the goal, Man United looked more comfortable and the attacking threat from Ronaldo, Nani, Giggs and Tevez started to show. Anderson was so close to getting his first goal for Man United when he got his head onto Ronaldo's ball in but the ball went nowhere near the goal.

It looked like United were going to go into the break with a 1-0 lead but 1 minutes was added on and we got another goal from another corner. Giggs took the corner from the right and Ronaldo was there to thump his header into the back of the net and give United a 2-0 lead.

So, Man United went into the break 2-0 up and I was hopeful that we could score more goal especially since we haven't been scoring that many in the Premier League recently.

The first chance of the second half fell to Paul Scholes who cut inside the box and his shot was blocked by Yamaguchi, he then had another chance a few minutes later when Tevez showed some good skill and got the ball to Neville who played the ball to Scholes but he blasted his shot high.

55 minutes and there was a worrying sight for Man United fans when Vidic went down in United's penalty area with what looked like a groin strain but he did get up and carried on playing.

62 minutes in and the captain of Osaka (Yamazaki) was stretchered off (he did return onto the pitch) but the Osaka had a freekick which went over the wall and Van Der Sar brilliantly palmed the ball away.

Wayne Rooney was brought on in the 72nd minute for Carlos Tevez and ever since then there as mayhem.

Rooney had just been brought on and Gamba Osaka got a goal straight away, it was a good finish by Yamazuki but United did fall asleep. Gama Osaka 1-2 Man United.

Straight after the restart, Man United got another goal and it was Wayne Rooney who had only been on the pitch for 90 seconds. Rooney latched onto Fletcher's pass and put the ball past the goalie and into the back of the net.

Endo then had a tremendous shot that went just past Van Der Sar, it was close but not a goal.

77 minutes in and it was Gamba Osaka 1-4 Man United when Fletcher scored by yet another header which was from Evra's cross. It looked like it was now game over, but there were more goals.

80 minutes in and Rooney had his second of the game to make it Osaka 1-5 United.
Rooney did receive a yellow card a few minutes later when he kicked out in frustration on one of the Osaka players.

83 minutes in and a soft penalty was given when Neville turned his back on the ball in the penalty area but it did hit his hands which was down by his body. Endo stepped up and slotted it past Van Der Sar, who did go the right way but the score was 5-2 to Man United.

Things didn't stop there, United had a freekick in a good position but Giggs' shot went over the bar. Lucas then headed the ball just wide for Osaka.

89 minutes in and Endo fired a shot towards the goal but Van Der Sar managed to save it. Three minutes of injury time was added on and we did get another goal.

Hashimoto scored a cracking goal, it was a fantastic finish by the player but Fergie didn't look happy at all. Gamba Osaka 3-5 Man United.

The match finished with a Ronaldo freekick which was hit straight into the keepers arms. It finished Gamba Osaka 3-5 Manchester United.

The game fizzled out in the second half until Rooney was brought on and from then on it was a fantastic game with loads of chances and loads of goals, United are through to the final which will be live on channel 5 on Sunday at 10:30 am GMT.

The only disappointment of the match was the goals that we let in, apart from the penalty which was really soft, we should have done better.