Scholes' recklessness increases uphill task

The violence that left Manchester United supporters imagining they had been transported through their own episode of Life on Mars on Wednesday was not the end of surrealism at the Stadio Olimpico. On the final whistle the home crowd responded to a profligate Roma performance as though certain of a place in the Champions League semi-finals while the defeated Premiership leaders celebrated the reprieve that ensures they are not. The reality check, meanwhile, revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson's team have still to announce themselves as serious contenders for the European Cup.

A delightful Wayne Rooney goal away in Europe and a 2-1 scoreline were tangible reasons for United to remain ebullient as they stayed in the Italian capital for an extra day's recuperation yesterday ahead of their League date at Portsmouth, fully aware of the occasion that awaits when they finally return home to Old Trafford next Tuesday. "It wasn't really like a defeat in the changing room afterwards," admitted Rio Ferdinand, while Ryan Giggs, his designs on a second European Cup winners' medal in the balance yet again, said: "It felt like a successful night considering the circumstances. We could have folded in the second half but we came out confident and, though it's a shame we couldn't hang on at 1-1, we are pleased with 2-1."

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Make no mistake, United should now have as much chance of reaching the last four as PSV Eindhoven, given the procession of chances Francesco Totti and Simone Perrotta orchestrated for the Giallorossi, and they would be unwise to consider themselves favourites to progress on account of Roma converting only two.

Injuries have begun to disrupt Ferguson's team at a critical moment and, with the exception of Patrice Evra's anticipated return from a knee problem at Fratton Park tomorrow, there is no cavalry coming out of the casualty room for the second leg, when they will also be without the suspended Paul Scholes. The United manager and several of his players pointed the blame at Cristian Chivu for the midfielder's red card in Rome, arguing that the Romanian defender convinced Herbert Fandel to show a second yellow for the foul on Totti despite the German referee's pre-match warning that such gamesmanship would result in an immediate dismissal.

Whatever the merits of that argument, Scholes recklessly invited trouble, and his absence will unbalance United against a Roma team who dominated proceedings long before the 32-year-old was sent off for the second time in four matches. In contrast, though the Ashton-under-Lyme-born Perrotta is now denied a return home due to suspension, Luciano Spalletti will have David Pizarro back from a ban to help protect the Italians' fragile lead.

History does not bode well for United's chances of keeping the prospect of an all-English final alive. Ferguson regularly credits crucial late goals as symptomatic of his squad's fighting spirit but, confronted with the task of overturning a first-leg deficit in Europe, they have never risen to the challenge during his reign. Not since a European Cup-Winners' Cup tie against Barcelona in 1984 have United survived against the odds, on that occasion thanks to a 3-0 victory following a 2-0 defeat in Catalonia, and their Champions League history is littered with exits formulated in first-leg defeats - Milan in 2005, Porto in 2004, Real Madrid in 2003, Bayern Munich in 2001 and Borussia Dortmund in 1997.

"If we defend right at Old Trafford, we will always create chances. So it is just about taking those chances," insisted a defiant Giggs.

Uefa, European football's governing body, may take disciplinary action against Ferguson for questioning the referee's impartiality on Wednesday night. Though left with little choice but to book Scholes twice Fandel justified the United manager's pre-match concerns with an erratic performance that prompted the Scot to claim his team were playing "mostly against 12 men".

Ferdinand echoed his manager's sentiments about Fandel's handling of the game and believes Champions League referees have become detached from the players they are officiating. "You try to speak to them in the best manner possible," the England international explained. "But they turn their nose up to you and it's almost like they're from the upper crust and not allowed to speak to the players. It's not the language. This referee was German, but he spoke good English, and a few of his decisions were laughable. If you saw me on the pitch a few times, I was laughing because it was that bad. But I don't think the referee was the reason we lost 2-1."