ROME, April 5: Goals by Rodrigo Taddei and Mirko Vucinic gave AS Roma a 2-1 win over 10-man Manchester United in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.It was the second United away match in Europe after their visit to Racing Lens in the previous round to be marred by crowd trouble with fans clashing with Roma supporters first and then police at halftime.
United went a man down in the 34th minute when Paul Scholes picked up a second booking and Roma capitalised with a goal a minute before halftime by Brazilian playmaker Taddei.
Wayne Rooney volleyed a fine equaliser as United broke forward on the hour, but second-half substitute Vucinic restored the home side's lead six minutes later as Roma extended their unbeaten home record in European competition to 10 matches.
It was United's first defeat in 15 matches in all competitions since mid-January and Roma's 100th victory in European competition.
Roma made an aggressive start, forcing Gabriel Heinze to concede a corner under pressure from Christian Wilhelmsson after barely 10 seconds but there were also early flashes of brilliance from United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney.
For the most part, however, the Premier League leaders were content to let Roma push forward, even conceding a series of dangerous free kicks on the edge of their own area.
Roma really took charge of the match, however, in the 34th minute when Scholes – who had already picked up a yellow card for a clumsy challenge on Wilhelmsson – stuck his leg out in front of Totti to earn another booking and leave United with 10 men.
The Serie A side capitalised on their advantage a minute from halftime when Mancini ran into the area and cut the ball back for Taddei to fire a left-footed shot that took a deflection off Wes Brown and beat Van der Sar.
The goal set off trouble in the stands. As the two sets of fans baited each other, United supporters surged towards the barriers that separated them from the home fans, prompting the police to wade in with batons.
The skirmishes died down as soon as the second half started.
United's ability to keep their composure was rewarded on the hour when a Ronaldo-inspired break ended with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looping a cross to the far post where Rooney chest the ball down past a defender and thumped the equaliser past Doni.
It was Rooney's first goal in the Champions League since his United debut in September 2004 when he hit a hat-trick against Fenerbahce and United's 100th goal this season.
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti's immediate reaction was to send on a second striker and Montenegrin Vucinic struck four minutes later, firing in a superb volley after Van der Sar had beaten away a Mancini shot.
Meanwhile, Chelsea face the same fate as Valencia's last Champions League victims Inter Milan after they could only scramble a 1-1 home draw with the Spaniards in London.
Valencia ended Inter's European hopes in the first knockout round with a 2-2 draw at the San Siro and a controlled 0-0 draw at home which ended in an ugly brawl among the players.
Like Inter – who failed – Chelsea will now have to go looking for at least one away goal in Spain next week – and prevent Valencia from breaching their defence again as David Silva did in spectacular style in London.
His angled first-half left-foot strike from 25-metres swerved past goalkeeper Peter Cech after 30 minutes and underlined why Valencia's assault on a third Champions League final in eight seasons is a realistic one.
Chelsea equalised after an uncharacteristic lapse in Valencia's concentration as they watched Ashley Cole's long punt upfield and allowed Didier Drogba to steal in and head the bouncing ball over keeper Santiago Canizares in the 53rd minute.
But for all their subsequent endeavour, Chelsea could not conjure up another clear chance to build on Drogba's 30th goal of the season.
Collated results:
Played on Wednesday:
AS Roma 2 Manchester United 1
Chelsea 1 Valencia 1
Played on Tuesday:
AC Milan 2 Bayern Munich 2
PSV Eindhoven 0 Liverpool 3
—Reuters