DIEGO Forlan hit his seventh of the season as Manchester United won a tough battle with Chelsea at Old Trafford to move into the semi finals of the Worthington Cup.

The Uruguyuan showed his new found confidence to fire between Carlo Cudicini's legs after racing onto David Beckham's pass in the 80th minute and he could have added a second in the last minute - hitting a post after another great Beckham ball.

But United were also indebted to their defence, with Wes Brown and Mikael Silvestre coping superbly with the threat of Gianfranco Zola and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Confidence

As befits a team that had won seven on the spin, the last four without conceding, United started brightly and almost took the lead through Ryan Giggs only for Mario Melchiot to clear on the line.

And with Juan Veron pulling the strings in midfield, the Reds continued to create chances and twice went close through the energetic Paul Scholes.

Chelsea, though, remained a threat on the break and should have taken the lead when Enrique De Lucas missed a guilt edged chance layed on by Jody Morris's accurate pass.

The second half was far scrappier and given the sides' respective defensive records it was little surprise to see the defences take control.

However Zola came close for Chelsea when he broke into the area, but his progress was halted by a brilliant recovery tackle by Brown.

And with time running out, Forlan took centre stage to fire United into the semis for the eighth time.

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