John O'Shea gave defending champion Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Arsenal yesterday in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.

The fullback scored in the 18th minute after Arsenal failed to clear a corner. United had chances of a far bigger victory but they were foiled by three good first-half saves by Manuel Almunia.

The two teams meet again at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium next Tuesday. The winner will advance to the May 27 final in Rome to face either Barcelona or Chelsea, who drew 0-0 in Tuesday's first leg in Spain.

"We had chances and their goalkeeper made two or three fantastic saves," said United manager Alex Ferguson. "The more pleasing aspect is that, before the game, I said (to the players) 'Try and win the game without conceding a goal.' We've done that.

"Our forward play was very good and that's given us a good chance. But the tie is not over, obviously."

Clear-cut chances

Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger said: "If you look at the clear-cut chances, they were on top," the Arsenal manager said. "The positive is that we are only 1-0 down that we take home and I am convinced that you will see a different Arsenal team at the Emirates. I believe that we have a good chance to reverse the result.

"I believe that the tie is very open. (United) can have regrets because they didn't score a second goal. It's down to us to make sure they regret they didn't score a second goal."