Manchester United's Wayne Rooney celebrate his goal against Schalke 04 during their first leg semi-final Champions League soccer match in Gelsenkirchen, April 26, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Frustrated United

The England striker, who was sent off in the same stadium against Portugal in the 2006 World Cup finals, then turned scorer by firing home from inside the area after Hernandez set him up with a well-timed pass.

"I think there was frustration towards the end of the first half with that final save from Ryan's (header). We had to correct that at halftime," said Ferguson.

"But what broke the camel's back was Chicharito's goal (that was disallowed early in the second half) because we saw that we could beat the guy (Neuer)."

Ferguson also heaped praise on Giggs, who at 37 may not play as often as he did but is still lethal when he does. "This is strange because his peak seems to have lasted so long now," said Ferguson. "I see no evidence of this waning."

"He won't be playing on Sunday (against Arsenal), he'll be playing next Wednesday (in the Schalke return) and when he gets that freshness he shows no signs of weakness. He is an amazing man."

Ferguson even hinted that he might be able to rest some players for the second leg at Old Trafford, saying: "Depending on the result on Sunday I could make two or three changes".

Christoph Metzelder (L) of Schalke 04 is tackled by Javier Hernandez of Manchester United during their Champions League semi-final first leg soccer match in Gelsenkirchen, April 26, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

The scoreline leaves Schalke, playing in their first Champions League semi-final, facing a mighty task going into the return next week, with the winners going through to play Barcelona or Real Madrid in the final at Wembley on May 28.

"We had imagined this game differently. We lacked the final pass today which we had against Inter Milan (in the quarter-finals)," said Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick.

"We had to thank Manuel Neuer that we were not two or three goals down in the first half. But why should we capitulate? We need to make things differently and in football many things have happened." said Rangnick who took over just a month ago from Felix Magath.