Roma 2 Manchester United 1: Crowd trouble adds to United worries as Roma take spoils

Fighting on the terraces and bruised on the pitch; everything Manchester United had feared in Rome came to pass last night as their Champions League ambitions suffered under a torturous examination by the Giallorossi.

Inside and outside the Stadio Olympico events unfolded as though preordained on a bleak night for the English game. The upset caused by United's written warnings about crowd trouble rebounded with alarming vengeance as their own supporters fought running battles with the Italian police and, according to reports, a travelling fan was taken to San Giacomo hospital before kick-off as a result of knife wounds to the neck.

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On the field, Sir Alex Ferguson's appeal for wise heads vanished into the Rome sky as Paul Scholes was sent off for inviting a second bookable offence in the 34th minute, while the prediction of a gruelling night for his makeshift defence materialised in the form of a 90-minute onslaught from Roma. And yet the United manager could be spared a Champions League exit by the realisation of another of his visions. As requested and as required, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo finally produced a European performance worthy of their exalted reputations and the England international gave United a lifeline for next Tuesday's return at Old Trafford with his first goal in 18 Champions League games.

Rooney's superb strike, allied to the unrelenting generosity of Roma in front of goal, explain how Ferguson's burning desire for a second European Cup remains intact at least until next week.

"Considering we played with 10 men and against 12 men for most of the night, this is a good result for us," said the United manager, referring to the German referee Herbert Fandel, his words accompanied by a backdrop of sirens from the streets where tear gas had been discharged to break up fighting between rival supporters.

"We didn't get a decision all night," he added, "but it will be a great night at Old Trafford next week. We have home advantage and, if we score, we'll go through."

The scoreline gives cause for cautious optimism, but on this evidence Luciano Spalletti's adventurous unit present a serious threat in this competition and United are still to transfer their domestic style and authority on to the Champions League arena.

Though on the cusp of confounding many critics with the Premiership title, Ferguson remains pained by the failure to add to the European Cup of 1999 and the club's declining reputation on the continent during the intervening years.

This was an opportunity to reverse that process, for a team who have earned their weekly plaudits at home to prove they have the guile to leave a lasting impression on Europe, and for Rooney and Ronaldo to spread their United reputations beyond English shores. They at least succeeded, but this was a fraught education and dispiriting experience on and off the pitch.

Not since winning a group game against Juventus in 2003 had United overcome such a formidable hurdle away in Europe and, against a Roma team boasting the meanest defence of the eight clubs left in the competition before last night, Ferguson's concerns proved warranted from the first whistle.

Three times in the opening three minutes United were stretched dangerously and survived only as a result of desperate, last-ditch interventions. With Fandel also justifying Ferguson's foreboding on his appointment as match referee, having presided over United defeats in Porto and Milan in recent seasons, the early pressure was unrelenting as the German official awarded a series of harsh free-kicks around the box.

Scholes had twice been penalised harshly by Fandel but, even so, the United midfielder should have known he was sailing dangerously close to the yellow card his next indiscretion in the 26th minute duly brought for a foul on Christian Wilhelmsson.

Eight minutes later, Scholes left a trailing leg in the way of a mazy run from Francesco Totti and a second yellow followed for the midfielder, whose composure had shone in the recovery against Blackburn on Saturday and who was making only his second appearance since collecting a three-match suspension at Anfield last month.

Ferguson said: "I've no complaints about the first booking but the second one, in a big game like this, would not have been given by a good referee."

United were desperately up against it. To their credit, both Ronaldo and Rooney responded well, but though Edwin Van der Sar was in fine form, there was an inevitability about Rodrigo Taddei's goal, deflected off Wes Brown and Gabriel Heinze, on the stroke of half-time.

The breakthrough prompted jubilant scenes in the Roma dug-out, but mayhem on the terraces. While celebrating the goal, home supporters broke through a cordon of stewards to pelt the visiting section with missiles. When they responded, the Italian police swarmed into the 4,500-strong Manchester United section and running battles ensued between the factions until the end of the interval.

A rare release for United, one that could yet shape this contest, came in the 60th minute when Ronaldo found Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his weighted cross picked out Rooney at the far post. Foxing Daniele De Rossi with a feinted header, the striker killed the ball on his chest and sidefooted a nonchalant strike beyond the Roma keeper Doni.

It was fabulous way to rediscover the striker's art in Europe and the United bench erupted in kind, but seven minutes later the Italians regained the lead when substitute Mirko Vucini reacted quicker than Heinze to a thunderous shot from Mancini that Van der Sar could only parry, and volleyed home the rebound unopposed.

Roma, driven by Totti and Simone Perrotta, should have killed the tie in the remaining 23 minutes, but chance after chance flew wide of the Dutchman's goal. United hang on.

Roma (4-5-1): Doni; Panucci, Mexes, Chivu, Cassetti; Wilhelmsson (Vucinic, 62), Taddei (Rosi, 82), De Rossi, Perrotta, Mancini; Totti. Substitutes not used: Curci (gk), Faty, Defendi, Ferrari, Chuka.

Manchester United (4-4-1-1): Van der Sar; O'Shea, Ferdinand, Brown, Heinze; Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs (Saha, 77); Rooney; Solskjaer (Fletcher, 72). Substitutes not used: Kuszczak (gk), Smith, Dong, Richardson, Eagles.

Referee: H Fandel (Germany).