Uefa Champions League/ FC Copenhagen 1; Manchester Utd 0: Manchester United's progress to the knockout stages was stalled on a night of sub-zero temperatures and sub-standard performances. Alex Ferguson's team are still almost assured of joining Liverpool and Chelsea in the next phase but he is entitled to be seriously disappointed by the shortcomings exposed in losing to such ordinary opponents.
Marcus Allback, who managed only six goals in two years at Aston Villa, struck the decisive blow 73 minutes into a night that ended United's perfect record in Group F. The Premiership leaders were desperately short of their best form, although they were undoubtedly hindered by the absence of key players and the effects of a weekend Bruce Springsteen concert on the pitch.
Ferguson was deeply unhappy with the pock-marked surface, and justifiably so. Large expanses had been so trampled by thousands of Springsteen fans as to destroy grass and expose mud. Downpours throughout the afternoon, and even the odd blizzard, had exacerbated the problem and there were areas so rutted it was like playing marbles on cobblestones.
So it was unreasonable to expect United to reproduce the exhilarating, one-touch passing witnessed at Bolton on Saturday. Instead, this was a night for restrained, conservative tactics, for subduing a side with plenty of enthusiasm yet little guile.
Ferguson was sufficiently underwhelmed by what he saw of Copenhagen at Old Trafford a fortnight ago that he left out Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes at the start. With Ryan Giggs, Louis Saha and Gary Neville injured, there were only five players who can realistically consider themselves mandatory first-team selections and there were spells when the new-look team struggled to establish cohesion and fluency.
In a prosaic first half, Copenhagen were willing opponents but limited ones too and, with a touch more adventure, Ferguson's men could conceivably have taken a grip on the game.
Instead, they flickered only sporadically. Rooney flashed a header narrowly over but there was not much United attacking threat. Cristiano Ronaldo was peripheral and there was the definite sense United missed the creativity of Scholes and Giggs.
Michael Carrick's passing was safe rather than incisive and John O'Shea is conspicuously short of what it takes to be a high-class central midfielder.
United's better performers were generally in defence, though the injured Nemanja Vidic was unable to carry on after the interval. Ferdinand was brought on to resume his partnership of old with Mikael Silvestre, who coped admirably. Wes Brown was a sturdy deputy for Neville while Gabriel Heinze looked assured on his first Champions League start since rupturing knee ligaments in Villarreal 14 months ago.
Edwin van der Sar became the fifth United player this season to captain the side. The Dutch goalkeeper had been flawless when faced with Bolton's bombardment of long, hopeful punts into the penalty area and his excellence in dealing with high balls was evident again.
United's natural instinct is to attack but it was not until the 55th minute that they created their first clear chance. Unfortunately, it was Rooney crossing for O'Shea rather than the other way around, and the midfielder's left-foot shot was misdirected from only six yards.
Yet it showed Copenhagen's defence was penetrable. On one occasion, Ronaldo counter-attacked, three attackers against two defenders, and had the chance to set Ole Gunnar Solskjaer running clear. Perhaps hindered by a bobble, Ronaldo's through ball was overhit and ran harmlessly through to the goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen.
Rooney had a heading opportunity but, again, he could not hit the target. It proved a costly miss. For the first time, United's defending was poor as a cross came in from the left and Atiba Hutchinson headed down for Allback to poke the ball past Van der Sar from two yards.
Scholes, a 70th-minute substitute, had a late chance to salvage a draw but Christiansen charged down his lob and United's qualification was put back until, at least, the visit to Celtic in three weeks.
Guardian Service
FC COPENHAGEN: Christiansen, Jacobsen, Hangeland, Gravgaard, Wendt, Silberbauer (Kvist 71), Linderoth, Norregaard, Bergvold (Berglund 67), Allback (Thomassen 89), Hutchinson. Subs not used: Gall, Pimpong. Booked: Hangeland.
MANCHESTER UTD: Van der Sar, Brown, Vidic (Ferdinand 46), Silvestre, Heinze (Evra 80), Fletcher (Scholes 71), Carrick, O'Shea, Ronaldo, Rooney, Solskjaer. Subs not used: Kuszczak, Smith, Richardson, David Jones. Booked: Ronaldo.
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany).
