Manchester United 3 Fiorentina 1

Manchester United eased into the last eight of the Champions League at Old Trafford despite an early set back against Fiorentina.

The holders were inspired to find two goals in front of a less than capacity home crowd after Gabriel Batistuta had given the Italian side a 16th minute lead. Just as Fiorentina were mounting a search for an equaliser midway through the second half midfielder Fabio Rossitto was instantly dismissed for a hack at Dwight Yorke as the United man tried to run away from him.

That 62nd minute incident helped to defeat the Italian side and Valencia's win at Girondins Bordeaux leaves them almost out of contention for a place in the quarter finals.

Fiorentina were able to hold possession of the ball in the second half but did not create clear chances for Batistuta with Predrag Mijatovic completely by-passed by the entire match. After Rossitto's dismissal Enrico Chiesa was introduced as a substitute and hit an excellent shot from distance which dipped just over the bar in the 71st minute. Two minutes earlier though Dwight Yorke has settled the game with a neat headed goal.

Ryan Giggs sent in a swerving cross from the left and Yorke sent in a low header unchallenged into the far corner of the net.

Fiorentina had seemed to threaten much more when Batistuta had given them the lead.

The Argentine accepted the ball thirty yards from goal and Jaap Stam's challenge was easliy sidestepped. Instead of carrying the ball forward Batistuta smashed a swerving shot through the hands of Mark Bosnich into the net for a sensational finish.

If the Italians were thrilled by taking the lead they conceded a goal only four minutes later as United noticeably increased the pace of the game.

They scored from a hopeful cross to Andy Cole at the edge of the area. Cole made the goal himself by bringing down the cross and turing to shoot in one motion. This excellent effort from distance needed to find the smallest gap between Francesco Toldo's dive and the far post and Cole found just the right angle to score.

Roy Keane gave United the lead in the 39th minute. The home team were able to use Cole's goal to establish long passages of pressure and Henning Berg headed a deep corner against the bar with a looping effort and Keane charged in first to volley the ball in off the post from close range.

The kick-off was delayed by fifteen minutes by an electrical failure in three of the four stands and Giggs also failed to cap a fine performance down the left wing that haunted Fiorentina throughout the night. Giggs ran clear in the 87th minute but pulled his left foot shot well wide.