GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany — If Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was trying to make his case for a move to Manchester United, he certainly made an impression on Tuesday — even if he could not prevent Alex Ferguson's men from winning 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.
Neuer single-handedly kept Schalke in the match for more than hour before conceding goals to Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney in the 67th and 69th minutes respectively.
For both goals, it was more a case of Neuer being let down by his teammates, rather than a mistake by the Germany keeper.
United manager Alex Ferguson called Neuer's performance "one of the finest" he's seen against his team.
Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick said Neuer proved he was one of the best goalies in the world. "We can only thank Manuel that we weren't two or three goals down by halftime," he said.
In fact, Schalke could have been down by six or more, were it not for Neuer's heroics.
One of his finest saves came when he denied Giggs late in the first half. One on one with the Schalke keeper, Giggs slipped the ball past Neuer, but the 25-year-old goalie somehow stuck out his right hand to palm the ball away.
In the 28th minute, Neuer made a stunning reflex save from a close-range header from Giggs off a cross by captain Nemanja Vidic.
Ferguson said he saw a "sense of frustration" in his players as they went off the pitch after a first half during which they wasted a dozen chances.
"I think we showed too much respect from the start," Neuer said. "We had trouble winning the ball and did not defend well."
Neuer's contract with Schalke ends in 2012 and the goalkeeper and the team's captain has said he will leave the club where he's been playing since preschool days.
A move this summer to Bayern Munich was reportedly a done deal, but some German media have also linked Neuer with Manchester United.
Ferguson has professed ignorance about any such move, but his current goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is retiring at the end of this season.
Neuer became Germany's No. 1 goalkeeper when Bayer Leverkusen's Rene Adler injured his shoulder and missed last year's World Cup.
Neuer got the chance and used it. Now he is being compared to Oliver Kahn, the last of Germany's many star goalkeepers.