Carvalho sends CSKA to Lisbon

A virtuoso performance from Daniel Carvalho inspired PFC CSKA Moskva to a 3-0 UEFA Cup semi-final second-leg victory against Parma FC as Valeriy Gazzaev's side became the first Russian team since 1972 to reach a European final.

Berezoutski header
The Brazilian playmaker scored two and set up the third as CSKA dominated at the Lokomotiv stadium. He broke the deadlock with an emphatic finish on ten minutes and then added a second after the interval just as the visitors were threatening to get back into the game. Vassili Berezoutski headed in Carvalho's free-kick just before the hour and the tie was long over when Parma's Daniel Bonera saw red in added time.

Frenetic opening
The first leg ended goalless at the Stadio Ennio Tardini last week after neither side was willing to commit men forward. But tonight never looked like being a repeat after Luca Bucci was forced to scramble off his line as early as the second minute to collect Sergei Ignashevich's dinked pass aimed at Yuri Zhirkov.

Parma acrobatics
Two minutes later Parma fashioned an opening themselves when Davide Furlan's overhead kick found Francesco Ruopolo on the penalty spot, and the striker fired an equally acrobatic shot just over the crossbar. The chance would prove a rare opportunity for the visitors.

Bucci besieged
Bucci was again called into action on eight minutes, diving at full stretch to keep out Ivica Olic's rasping near-post drive, but the veteran goalkeeper could do nothing a minute later when Carvalho thumped the ball high into the net after running on to Zhirkov's superb centre.

Combative running
The goal spurred the Brazilian on as the Parma defence struggled to cope with his and compatriot Vágner Love's combative running. The two almost combined to double the lead on 19 minutes, when Vágner Love launched a counterattack before laying the ball off and running into the penalty area, arriving just too late to convert Carvalho's clever cut back.

Frequent fouls
In their eagerness to put pressure on the CSKA strikers higher up the pitch, the Parma backline committed countless fouls in the first half, but the Russian side were never able to capitalise and test Sébastien Frey - who had replaced Bucci on 20 minutes - in the Parma goal.

Ruopolo miss
And on 33 minutes, the Serie A outfit almost showed them how it should be done from a set-piece when Mark Bresciano's corner found Ruopolo unmarked, but the 22-year-old headed the ball straight into the ground and over the crossbar from just three metres. Bresciano again breached the CSKA defence at the end of the first half, this time from a free-kick that struck Ignashevich's outstretched leg and flashed narrowly wide.

Gilardino gamble
Pietro Carmignani brought on Alberto Gilardino four minutes after the restart but the striker had barely had a chance to demonstrate the form that had brought him four goals against Livorno Calcio at the weekend before his side were 2-0 down - Vágner Love running through the Parma defence before laying the ball off to Carvalho to side-foot past Frey.

Bonera dismissal
The Brazilian playmaker turned provider on 59 minutes, supplying a pin-point cross for Berezoutski to head in as CSKA sealed victory. Parma's misery was completed when Bonera was dismissed, leaving CSKA to look forward to a final date with hosts Sporting Clube de Portugal on 18 May.