Contentious ManU goal sparks violence

Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Lille in the Champions League was marred by crowd incidents and a contentious goal.

Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Lille in the Champions League was marred by crowd incidents and a contentious goal. Real Madrid, however, helped ease the pressure on its coach by beating Bayern Munich 3-2.

Ryan Giggs scored the winning goal for United, curling in a free kick in the 83rd minute. That prompted an angry reaction from Lille’s players, who claimed Giggs had not waited for the referee’s whistle and took the free kick too quickly.

“When the goalkeeper asks to place his wall, you should wait for the referee’s whistle. There was no whistle at all and the player shot directly and the result is a goal,” Lille captain Gregory Tafforeau said.

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Man United manager Alex Ferguson was furious that a Lille coach gestured for the team to come off the field after the goal. “I’ve never seen that. It was complete intimidation of the referee. UEFA have got to do something. The Lille coaching staff intimidated the referee and it created a hostile atmosphere,” Ferguson said.

Lille also had a goal by Peter Odemwingie ruled out because the referee said he pushed United defender Nemanja Vidic. Soon after the game started, some visiting fans were pushed against a high metal security barrier designed to keep fans off the field. The match was played at nearby Lens because Lille’s stadium doesn’t meet UEFA’s standards.

Madrid got two first-half goals from Raul Gonzalez and another from Ruud van Nistelrooy to give the nine-time champions the edge heading into the second leg in two weeks.

The victory at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium may have eased the pressure on coach Fabio Capello, who reportedly offered to quit on Monday, seven months into his second spell in charge.

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“The first half was very good and we scored three goals. They improved after halftime with three new players and played some really nice soccer,” Capello said.

Raul, the competition’s all-time leading scorer, scored in the 10th and 28th minutes to give him 56 goals. Van Nistelrooy added another in the 34th.

Defender Lucio scored for Bayern in the 23rd, with midfielder Mark van Bommel adding what could be a decisive away goal in the 88th.

For Celtic, Shunsuke Nakamura’s free kick was saved by the diving Zeljko Kalac in the 39th. “We’re miles away as a football club but big hearts kept us in it,” Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said.

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AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini became the fifth player to make his 100th Champions League appearance, joining Oliver Kahn, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos and Raul Gonzalez.

The 38-year-old Maldini also played in the previous version of the competition, making his European Cup debut in 1992. He has two winner’s medals and has reached three other finals.

Tuesday’s results
Manchester United 1 Lille 0
(Ryan Giggs 83’)
Real Madrid 3 Bayern Munich 2
(Raul 10’, 28’, Nistelrooy 34’); (Lucio 24’, Bommel 88’)
Celtic 0 AC Milan 0