AS Roma 2 Manchester Utd 1:This was a bruising night for Manchester United, both for their supporters and their players. While the fans fought running battles with riot police, Alex Ferguson's team were subjected to a long, difficult evening here in Rome after Paul Scholes's 34th-minute sending off and they will cherish the importance of Wayne Rooney's away goal.
Rooney's first Champions League goal since his debut hat-trick against Fenerbahce in September 2004 could be a significant factor when the teams renew hostilities at Old Trafford next Tuesday. United, however, will be without Scholes, who is now suspended for two European matches and Uefa are certain to take sanctions after serious clashes at half-time, leading to an announcement that the game could be cancelled.
The violence tarnished an otherwise exhilarating evening in which the Roma substitute Mirko Vucinic won the game, deservedly, for the Italians. Yet 2-1 is a score that will not unduly faze United and Ferguson is entitled to be confident about his side's chances of overturning the first-leg deficit, having escaped relatively lightly given Scholes's ignominious contribution.
United's supporters have been to bear pits in Istanbul, iceboxes in the Eastern Bloc and, in the last five years, they have gone through the Glasgow experience at both Celtic Park and Ibrox. Yet this team has never experienced a seething, whistling pit of frenzied bias like the Stadio Olimpico and this was a night when Ferguson's more experienced players needed to be at their seen-it-all-before peaks of excellence.
Instead, his most important midfielder barely lasted a third of the match. Scholes's habit of hacking down opponents has been a stain on an otherwise illustrious career and, even though United are entitled to feel hard done by Herbert Fandel's refereeing, it is worth pointing out the midfielder had already been lectured for two late tackles even before his first yellow card.
That came in the 26th minute when he scythed down Christian Wilhelmsson on the touchline, more through clumsiness than any great malice, and when Scholes clipped Francesco Totti's run eight minutes later Fandel opted against leniency. Scholes can feel aggrieved because there was only minimal contact - Totti is an elegant deceiver of referees - but a player of his years should not allow himself to be put into these situations.
Conspiracy theorists will note that Fandel was the referee when United were eliminated from the competition against Milan two years ago and Porto the year before. Of more importance, Scholes's absence was a debilitating blow and, within eight minutes, Roma broke menacingly, Mancini crossed from the left and the Brazilian Taddei struck from the penalty spot. Until that point Edwin van der Sar had looked strong and decisive but the shot took a crucial deflection off Wes Brown to wrong-foot the United goalkeeper.
The Italians deserved their lead because, even with Scholes on the pitch, United had looked hesitant and unsure of Ferguson's 4-3-2-1 formation. In the opening exchanges every member of United's reconfigured defensive quartet was culpable of at least one unforced error. On each occasion the danger was averted but the frequency with which passes were misplaced encouraged the curva sud to crank up the decibel levels some more, sensing vulnerability among their opponents.
In these moments United were grateful to Cristiano Ronaldo for his ability to occupy the minds of the Roma defenders and alleviate the pressure on Van der Sar's goal. Ronaldo was always available to take a pass, holding up the ball brilliantly and, when he set off on one of those powerful, leggy surges, inspiring something in United's opponents that none of his colleagues seemed capable of: trepidation.
The departure of Scholes meant Van der Sar thereafter became United's key player. Ronaldo had a chance early in the second half but this was a period of near-unremitting pressure from the giallarossi. Serie A's second-placed team attacked with purpose and, with Totti running from deep and Mancini providing width and penetration on the left wing, they caused so many problems to make Rooney's equaliser a shock to the system.
A difficult first hour had just elapsed when Ronaldo tore forward, zipped past a couple of challenges and moved the ball to Solskjaer. His cross picked out Rooney at the far post and the striker controlled the ball on his chest, showing brilliant composure, before side-footing the ball past Doni in the Roma goal.
Suddenly the United fans could be heard but Roma's response was swift and decisive. Van der Sar's first mistake of the night was to parry out Mancini's shot, when he could have flicked it over, and Vucinic lashed in the rebound to give Roma the lead again.
AS ROMA: Doni, Panucci, Mexes, Chivu, Cassetti, Wilhelmsson (Vucinic 62), Taddei (Rosi 82), De Rossi, Perrotta, Mancini, Totti. Subs not used: Curci, Faty, Defendi, Ferrari, Okaka Chuka. Booked: Perrotta.
MANCHESTER UTD: Van der Sar, Heinze, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Brown, Ronaldo, Giggs (Saha 77), Carrick, Scholes, Rooney, Solskjaer (Fletcher 72). Subs not used: Kuszczak, Smith, Dong, Richardson, Eagles. Sent off: Scholes (34). Booked: Scholes, Solskjaer, Heinze.
Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany).