UEFA Champions League AS Roma 1 Manchester Utd 1:In the grand scheme of things Alex Ferguson will not mind too much about his team missing the chance to become only the fifth club since the Champions League's formation to win all six games in a qualifying group.
Their immaculate record was spoiled by a 71st minute equaliser from Mancini, though it did not seem to matter greatly on a night when Roma's notorious Ultras staged several of their trademark ambushes outside the Stadio Olympico. Five Manchester United fans were stabbed when violence erupted between a group of 50 rival fans on a bridge near the stadium. During that game, several fans were hurt by police after disturbances in the crowd between both sets of supporters.
On the pitch Ferguson will have been encouraged by the performance of his youthful side, albeit on an evening when both sides had already qualified and it felt, at times, like little more than a glorified practice match.
Off the field, however, there was galling news for United, with regular updates about knife attacks on visiting supporters.
It provoked an unhappy sense of deja vu from United's visit here last season although, in football terms, the two occasions had little in common.
In April, it had been a Champions League quarter-final played in front of a shrieking, whistling, fire-cracking mass of bias. Eight months on, this was a far more serene atmosphere, the absence of so many key players - and some vast expanses of empty seats - taking away some of the edge. All of which meant it was a rather dreary opening, with few noteworthy incidents apart from a disallowed goal for Francesco Totti, until United scored from a corner in the 34th minute.
Nani's fast, whipped-in delivery was met by Gerard Pique who directed his header downwards to the left of Roma's Brazilian goalkeeper Doni.
Before half-time Mancini flashed a shot against the crossbar and saw a shot turned away by Tomasz Kuszczak in the United goal. For the most part, however, Ferguson's experimental mix of fringe players and up-and-coming reserves coped more than ably.
Ferguson was entitled to be impressed by the likes of Pique, Danny Simpson and Johnny Evans, although the feeling also persisted that their opponents did not seem fussed about avenging the 7-1 defeat they suffered at Old Trafford in April.
Evans was close to bundling in a second after Michael Carrick had turned on another Nani corner 10 minutes after the interval and, as the home crowd began to voice their restlessness, there were other moments when United looked lively in attack.
Yet Chris Eagles and Louis Saha both missed good chances and Mancini brought Roma level with a splendidly taken goal, turning inside the substitute Wes Brown and curling a shot into the bottom corner. Mirko Vucinic then stuck a post as Roma went in search of the winner.
Guardian Service
AS ROMA:Doni, Cicinho, Ferrari, Mexes, Barusso (Giuly 62), Antunes, Pizarro, Esposito (Vucinic 62), Taddei (De Rossi 46), Mancini, Totti. Subs not used: Bertagnoli, Panucci, Juan, Pit. Booked: Barusso.
MANCHESTER UTD:Kuszczak, Simpson, Pique, Evans, O'Shea (Brown 54), Eagles, Fletcher, Carrick, Nani, Saha, Rooney (Dong 71). Subs not used: Heaton, Lee, Hewson, Brandy, Eckersley.
Referee:Martin Hansson (Sweden).
