By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter

Park Ji-sung scored a goal in a 4-0 drubbing of AC Milan in the second leg of the Champions League Thursday (KST) at home as Manchester United marched into the quarterfinals.

Along with Park, Wayne Rooney netted two against the seven-time European champion and Darren Fletcher added one to help Sir Alex Ferguson's side win the series 7-2 on aggregate.

The English side won 3-2 in the first leg thanks to Rooney's two goals last month.

Securing the berth to the elite eight, United, which failed to defend their title against FC Barcelona in the final last year, join Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

On the same day, French side Lyon also reached the quarterfinals after eliminating Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid 2-1 on aggregate, and the other four spots will be decided next week.

The goal was Park's second of the season and third career strike at the biggest European club tournament.

The 29-year-old notched his career-first Champions League goal against Milan in the second leg of the semifinals in May 2005 while playing for PSV Eindhoven and he tallied another against Arsenal in the second leg of the semifinals in May 2009.

At the other end of the field, Park also performed well, keeping Milan's play-making midfielder Andrea Pirlo at bay.

"I am happy with the goal. Despite a 4-0 win, it was a tough match. An early goal helped us,'' Park said.

"Four goals are a lot against AC Milan and I never expected it.

"But all the players made decent showings."

His solid performance drew praises from his boss and club captain.

"Park was the key to our game," Ferguson told Manchester United Television.

"We can talk about Rooney - and he was great - but Park's discipline, intelligence and sacrifice won us the match tactically. Pirlo is such an important player for them."

Gary Neville also acknowledged Park's role in the match.

"I don't know if it was easy out there (against Ronaldinho), but you have to look at the work Ji-sung Park did, stopping the forwards getting the service. A player like Ronaldinho is difficult to mark if he gets good service but I was able to get close to him."

Rooney broke the game open in the 13th minute as Neville lofted a cross in from the right and Rooney headed it home past Christian Abbiati to put his team in early control.

The Italian side began its counterattack, with a swerving shot from Pirlo and a Ronaldinho header, but they did not pose any threat to the home side.

Right after half time, the Red Devils extended their lead.

One minute in, Portuguese winger Nani raced down the left and crossed to Rooney, who tapped the ball in for his 30th strike of the season.

Park, who played attacking midfielder, backing up Rooney, put the match beyond reach even before former Old Trafford darling David Beckham came off the bench to a standing ovation from a crowd of 74,595.

The South Korean international latched onto a pass from Paul Scholes and sent it inside the far post at 59 minutes.

Beckham took the field to much fanfare with 25 minutes to go and struck a decent volley, but it was batted away by goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

Fletcher wrapped up United's goal spree near the end of the match, heading in a Rafael da Silva cross over Abbiati.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr