The absence of Roy Keane left a hole in United's midfield but Ronny Johnsen deputised admirably Porto's Artur shot on 70 seconds sent United heart's must have been fluttering but it was the first and last time Pallister and May were seriously troubled.

Their counterparts, Jorge Costa, Conceicao and Aloisio, were on the other hand in for a torrid night. Their inability to deal effectively with nearly every high ball played into their penalty area was the biggest source of early encouragement for the home side, who's attacking ventures were reinforced by the endless bombardment of noise from over 50,000 fans in the stadium.

A sweeping United attack, their first of the match, threatened an early goal when Cantona's right wing cross just eluded Andy Cole in the box, the scrambled clearance only fell to Gary Neville who's long range shot never came close to becoming his first goal for the club. A Cantona corner that followed minutes later picked out May at the far post but with much of the goal to aim at he only managed to direct his header into the grateful arms of 21 year old goalkeeper Hilario. Cole then followed up that effort with a somewhat fortunate header that deflected off a defender and forced an over elaborate tip over the bar from the keeper. From the resulting corner Pallister rose high to test Hilario again but this time he dealt with it comfortably enough.

The first goal came from a Beckham cross where Pallister, who had stayed up from a previous corner headed the ball down towards goal. Hilario failed to gather the ball and David May smashed the rebound into the net despite being on the deck.

Almost immediately Porto brought on Brazillian Jardel from the substitutes bench, a scorer of 25 goals so far that season, four in the champions league, two of which came in the superb 3-2 win at the San Siro in September. But Porto needed to concentrate more on repelling the relentless waves of red shirted attacks rather than plotting a counter strike to going a goal behind.

An enormous kick out from Schmeichel after 32 minutes was completely missed by Cole, allowing Solskjaer to gather the ball and thread it through to Cantona who had made his way into the box. Aloisio made a well timed interception however but then slipped and presented the ball to the Frenchman who dispatched his shot past Hilario with venom.

With a priceless lead to protect, it was understandable that there was an evident cutback in United's attacking aspirations for the remainder of the first 45 minutes. The rearguard action was no better epitomised than by the sight of Eric Cantona filling in as a third full back, a position he would surely never lower himself to in a game of any lesser importance.

Despite the blow of losing two bad goals Porto continued playing with remarkable composure, hoping that something would go their way, offering them a route back into the tie. No such luck was forthcoming though and the remaining 10 minutes prior to the interval were played out without Schmeichel being tested once. Much of that fact was down to the heroics of David May who intercepted a Jardel cross that would have set up Artur for a simple tap in.

Artur was substituted for Rui Barros during the break hoping the little midfielder's guile would find the key to unlock United's firmly bolted defence. He didn't and in the meantime the home side continued to create goalscoring chances with growing frequency. Giggs and Beckham had the midfield under their imperious control, with the Welshman absolutely rampant in his free role, head and shoulders above of every other player on the pitch. Every time the ball was at his feet he was twisting and turning past opponents with graceful ease and testing Porto with passes that sliced through their defence again and again. It was undoubtedly one of the best individual displays by a United player in Europe during Alex Ferguson's reign as manager and sparked memories of the days of George Best when he wore the number 11 shirt.

It was to be a memorable night for Giggs which he capped with a magnificent third goal, effectively ending Porto's chances. It came just after the hour mark but not before Beckham had flashed a fizzing shot inches wide of Hilario's post and Cole had finished weakly after polished build up had given him the chance to turn but only direct his shot at the goalkeeper.

With the third goal always going to be critical to the overall outcome of the tie the delight the United players showed after Giggs's goal was understandable. It was created with a sweeping pitch long move of lightning speed. Rui Barros's left wing cross was too long for any Porto player to reach and Cantona was able to collect the ball and launch a long pass down the line, giving it enough fade to keep the ball in play and find Andy Cole. The striker showed no fear as he forced Jorge Costa to back-peddle towards the penalty area. The crowd urged Cole to go it alone but Giggs gave him a second option which he accepted gleefully. His reverse pass into the space behind Costa found the Welshman's superb 60 yard run that started in his own half. With Paulinho Santos charging to close him down Giggs's pace enabled him to get their first and strike his shot under Hilario at his near post.

Porto's disbelief at what was happening to their European Cup dreams wrecked any chance of a comeback as Jardel was a lone figure up front with Pallister and May colossal in the heart of United's backline. Their concentration for over 90 minutes ensured that none of the players in blue and white would come close to preventing their first away defeat in any competition since they lost to Benfica on 23 March 1996.

The final nail in Porto's coffin came 11 minutes from the end when Johnsen headed the ball from Barroso, went past Paulinho Santos and fed Cantona who ran at the already demoralised Porto defence. Cole made a quick diagonal run behind Costa and Cantona found him with customary accuracy. Cole's bravery and exquisite finishing produced a delicate chip over the advancing Hilario to make it four.

With the arrival of the final whistle Manchester United fans, for the first time years could finally boast that they had outclassed a top quality continental opponent. Not just outclass them however but comprehensively dismantle a Porto team that came to Old Trafford with a water-tight reputation.

FC PORTO: Hilario, Aloisio, Conceicao, Jorge Costa, Santos, Drulovic, Barroso, Joao Costa, Zahovic, Artur, Edmilson