Onsdagens nederlag til AaB Håndbold betød, at FCK`s herrer røg fra første til tredjepladsen. Derfor er en sejr absolut påkrævet, når Løverne lørdag eftermiddag tager imod fusionsklubben Bjerringbro-Silkeborg. Inden kampen mod Bjerringbro-Silkeborg spiller FCK Håndbolds damehold returopgør i Cup Winners’ Cup-semifinalen mod tyske Leverkusen. Det første opgør i Tyskland blev vundet med 21-9. Kampen starter klokken 13:30...

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When January is recalled it will be for Manchester City's astonishing pursuit of Kaka but the man on whom they spent a tenth of the £100m they offered Milan already seems the transfer window's outstanding piece of business.

Craig Bellamy should probably not have played last night. His 27-year-old cousin, whom he described as "his closest friend", died after a long illness on Wednesday and it was only after intense discussions that he took the field. "I lost my cousin, one of my closest friends, yesterday morning," confirmed the Wales international. "Today was a hard day for me, for my family and his family. I'll miss him dearly and I'd like to dedicate this game to him and the goals as well."

Bellamy's response was his third and fourth goals in seven games and, had he not hit the mark after a welter of squandered opportunities, Martin Vingaard's low drive into the corner of the net with literally the last kick of the game would have seen Manchester City exit the competition in typically bizarre circumstances.

"Whatever people say about him, he has a fantastic work ethic, no little skill and outstanding pace and we needed those qualities," his manager, Mark Hughes, said last night. "For me, he has been outstanding with Wales and at Blackburn but here he is at another level."

The caveat is that at most of his eight clubs Bellamy has always known how to start well and that he is not easy company in a dressing room, as Robinho discovered following City's 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth on Valentine's Day. However, as Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham spent several seasons proving on the other side of Manchester, it is not necessary for footballers to like or even speak to each other to create an effective partnership. Between them, the pair might have had half a dozen goals last night and ought to have settled this tie long before they did.

Having struck the post just before half- time, Bellamy finally soothed nerves at Eastlands, seizing on a mistake from Copenhagen's 18-year-old centre-half, Mathias Jorgensen, as he tried to deal with a low, long up-field punt. He won the ball, turned sharply towards goal, and for someone whose finishing has been criticised throughout his career, scored sublimely.

Hitherto, City had squandered as many chances as they had in the first leg in Denmark, although here it was at least 10 degrees warmer and the driving snow had been replaced by incessant rain. Robinho's nonchalant miss from four yards with the goal at his mercy was somehow typical, although his response was to drag the ball back for Bellamy to drive into the roof of the net and guarantee a meeting with Aalborg, the fourth Danish-speaking club Manchester City will have met in a campaign that began in the Faroe Islands seven months before.

It says something for the Uefa Cup that by the time this unloved and unwieldy competition reached the last 32, Manchester City were the only English club who wanted to stay in. So while the winners of the FA Cup, the Carling Cup and the team that finished fifth in the Premier League have gone, the one that entered the competition through the cat flap of the Fair Play League remain.

In contrast to Aston Villa and Tottenham, who had rather more pressing matters, Hughes could afford to name a full-strength side on the basis that once they had delivered a quick knockout blow, the big players could be withdrawn. But as the minutes slipped by and the killer punch failed to arrive, Hughes slapped his hands in frustration - a sound that echoed across an eerily silent stadium.

By the end, it was echoing to chants about Istanbul. Whether Manchester City can reach the final in Turkey is open to debate. The Copenhagen manager, Stale Solbakken, thought they had a chance if City continued their habit of scoring first, drawing their opponents out and exposing them to the counter attack. "But they struggle against teams like Stoke or Portsmouth who put men behind the ball because Manchester City do not have a big striker and their crossing is not good." Aalborg, he pointed out, like to put men behind the ball. However, unlike Milan and Kaka, Manchester City and Bellamy are still in the competition.

Look! A proper team! In the Uefa Cup! Hats off to Manchester City manager Mark Hughes for this: Given, Richards, Dunne (c), Onuoha, Bridge, Zabaleta, Kompany, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Bellamy.
Subs: Hart, Berti, Garrido, Elano, Vassell, Caicedo, Evans.

FC Copenhagen of the Danish Superligaen, who held City to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of this round-of-32 tie: Christiansen, Pospech, Norregaard, Almeida, Kvist, Hutchinson, N'Doye, Antonsson, Kristensen, Wendt, Jorgensen.
Subs: Coe, Jensen, Laursen, Nordstrand, Gronkjaer, Vingaard, Sionko.

Referee: S Dereli.

Kick off: 7.45pm

Superfluous weather update: It is raining in Manchester.

I take the comment about City's badge having vague Nazi overtones back, in the interests of Jordan Devine's sanity. "Don't say that!" s/he splutters. "I got the newer badge tattooed on me about five years ago. You might cause widespread dissent about the current design then before you know it, I'd be one of those tits walking around with an obsolete tattoo etched on my skin." Though hold on, wouldn't that give you more long-term supporter kudos?

Copenhagen, in their 1970s e-number-addled peach-melba yoghurt coloured shirts, kick off! Wright Phillips attempts to scoot past Wendt down the right, but the ball aquaplanes out of play.

3 min: Copenhagen are knocking it around the middle of the park nicely, Kristensen heavily involved, but they've not created anything yet. "City had to update their badge to include the stars for the three world cups they have won," explains Mark Taylor, who is either a gloating Manchester United fan or a City supporter going through a regular bout of self-hating. He's a City supporter going through one of his regular bouts of self-hating, isn't he.

5 min: Pospech whips the ball across the face of City's goalmouth from the right, but not before it had just gone out of play. Ndoye was lurking in the centre there, too. City will want to watch out for that, because they were a bit saggy and shapeless in the centre. (No jokes about Richard Dunne, please.)

8 min: Bellamy goes into minor meltdown after being flagged offside, latching onto an Ireland pass slid down the inside-left channel. The decision was just about right. Just. Meanwhile Jordan Devine is not having a bar of the argument which suggests an out-of-date badge tattoo gives one long-term supporter kudos: "Do you give long-term supporter kudos to the soap-dodgers who wander around town in a ten-year old replica kit? Nuff said."

10 min: A terrible ball from Bellamy, who busts Copenhagen's offside trap down the right and scoots clear into the box. Robinho is free in the centre, but the cross hits Jorgensen and gets nowhere near the City man. The away side look super-shaky at the back.

12 min: Kompany attempts to free Robinho down the left by switching play and spraying a long ball out wide. It's a great idea - but Antonsson is wise to his game, drops back towards his own goal, and intercepts, heading the ball back to Christiansen. It's been a lively start to this game.

16 min: Bridge storms forward down the left but his cross is overcooked, leaving Ireland and Bellamy stranded in the centre. Then seconds later, Zabaleta flicks an effort towards goal from a tight angle on the left, but Christiansen has it covered.

19 min: Hutchinson sends a looping cross into the City box from the right, and it's only just too high for Ndoye in the centre. City sweep right down the other end, Bellamy zipping down the right and standing one up to the far post, where Robinho heads onto the crossbar from two yards out. What a miss. "The best badges are the simplest ones," writes Anthony Marc Hopkins, who is talking my language. "I like Fulham's actually and Spurs' new one is a lot better than the old one. Still and all, they're overdone but then again, they are a lot less problematic than the sponsorship name on the shirts." Another good point. Ridiculously elaborate badge-branding, shirt sponsors, pitchside advertising... anyone fancy razing everything to the ground and starting again from scratch?

21 min: ITV ARE A LOAD OF USELESS CLOWNS WHO SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO TRANSMIT FOOTBALL EVER AGAIN. The director does a lengthy megamix of the Uefa Cup logo, a swoosh, the Bellamy-Robinho chance of a couple of minutes ago, the Uefa Cup logo, a couple more swooshes, the Uefa Cup logo, the Yorkshire TV ident from 1968, another swoosh, and a close-up of Christiansen. While that's going on, out of sight, Robinho twists and turns down the inside-left channel, into the box, turns Pospech (who slips and accidentally handles), and hammers a shot towards the bottom-left corner. The keeper parries the effort away brilliantly. Some of the Robinho run is shown live, but not all. How many more times does this have to happen? Given that once was one time too many?

24 min: Ndoye cuts inside from the left and into the City box. Dunne brushes the back of his heels, and the Copenhagen striker takes the opportunity to go down. It would have been a soft penalty, but City could have ultimately had no complaints. As it is, though, the referee gives nothing, much to Ndoye's dismay. It's the second time in a minute the ref has done City a favour, because Kompany was super-late on Hutchinson just before that incident, flipping him into the air like a greasy egg, and should have seen yellow. Lucky City.

30 min: Copenhagen have kept City very quiet for the last few minutes. They'll be very happy with this.

33 min: City are enjoying an awful lot of the ball, but they're not going anywhere with it. Eastlands still seems a pretty happy place, a fair bit of singing going on, but this wouldn't be City if just a little bit of tension was creeping in. "Can we establish if Jordan Devine was giving a toddler a clout outside Greggs in the Arndale Centre at about 1.20pm today?" asks Howard Waddington. "The woman in question certainly had the look of someone sporting a City tattoo somewhere on their person." A City supporter, in other words? You can look like a City supporter these days?

36 min: Robinho has a shot from the edge of the area, but Christiansen has the weak effort covered. Soon after, Kristensen is booked for hauling back Wright Phillips (who has been very quiet) as he races down the right wing.

40 min: Copenhagen win three corners in a row. City's defence doesn't look particularly happy under the high ball, but they eventually clear their lines after two slapstick attempts. Mildly amusing acronym, anyone? "Unwanted European Football Accolade Cup," quips Gary Naylor, whose view may or may not be jaundiced by Everton's habit of being knocked out of Europe before the first two hours of the season are up.

43 min: City have been very quiet for the last 10-15 minutes. Bellamy tries to inject some life into his team by tearing down the left, getting a yard on Wendt, and looking for Robinho in the centre. His cross is too close to Christiansen, though, and is easily gathered by the keeper.

HALF TIME: Manchester City 0-0 Copenhagen. Jorgensen hoofs a long free kick into the City box from the left, but Given claims, as you always knew he would. Back up the field, Zabaleta hoofs Antonsson in the shin, causing the big defender to hobble around for a bit. And then Bellamy hits the post, racing into the box from the left, breaking free and dinking the ball over the advancing Christiansen. The ball bounces towards the empty net - but comes off the base of the right-hand post and back across the face of goal, into the arms of the grateful keeper. The ref blows up, and Bellamy stomps off in an almighty funk.

And we're off again! Copenhagen make a change, replacing Kristensen with Sionko. Meanwhile Peter1645, who may or may not be related to 15Peter20 from Nathan Barley, has a problem with my pre-match superfluous weather update. Hi ho hi, Peter1645, what's up? "Do you live in Manchester?" he asks. "No?" No. "Today is the first day that it's rained in a week!" Oh. Well, fair enough, sorry for causing you any offence. Though as a Mancunian, can you really afford to get upset every time someone makes a lame reference about rain? Won't that get a little tiring after a while?

47 min: Almost an immediate impact by Sionko, who turns Dunne on the edge of the area and sends a delightful curling shot towards the top-right corner. Given is beaten all ends up, but the ball sails just over the bar. A really decent effort, that, and one which will concentrate City minds. "I was a man the last time I checked," writes Jordan Devine, who therefore hasn't been hoofing kids around outside the bakers. "Not that I'm against giving toddlers a clout now and again. Especially if they're parents are from the red half of the city." Oh my.

50 min: City are awarded a free kick, 25 yards out, almost right in the centre of the pitch. Bellamy takes, sending a curling effort towards the top-left corner. It's going in - but Christiansen has time to get across and parry into the air and away. A really lively start to this half by both teams.

52 min: Dunne and Ailton clash heads. Time for treatment. "The most amusing thing about the City badge has to be the row of three stars," writes Paul Glennon. "In Italy stars signify ten championship wins. In international play, a star signifies a World Cup victory. What do they signify to City? According to the mcfc website:

5. What do the three stars represent on the crest?
A. The stars have no significance and are purely decorative.

Purely decorative...naturally."

54 min: How did City not score there? Robinho sends Wright Phillips free down the right and into the box. Instead of shooting, Wright Phillips sends a low cross over towards Ireland, coming in from the left. The ball beats the keeper - but is just too far ahead of Ireland, who slides in a split second too late.

55 min: Not for the first time, a City player gets away with a poor challenge. Dunne, perhaps going after Ailton after that clash of heads, slides in, two feet up, on the Brazilian. Ooyah. Oof. That was at least a yellow - and possibly a red, given what looked like a fair bit of intent. Hmm.

58 min: Former Chelsea man Jesper Gronkjaer comes on for Ndoye. Spencer Jones explains the reason behind the change of the City badge. And, of course, it's the same old story: money. "When the club was bought from Peter Swales, he individually held the rights for the badge. So they changed it such that he didn't generate cash from it once the club changed hands. Not particularly sure why they didn't go back to the City of Manchester crest (as used in the cup final shirt long ago) - probably the same, sporting 'commercial reasons'."

62 min: Wright Phillips, on the halfway line, looks like racing clear on goal, but Wendt hacks him down with a crude challenge. There are covering defenders in the centre, and it's a long way out, so that's only a yellow. "The time is right for bringing back the old badge, especially after this season of discontent, as Umbro has been signed up to produce next year's kits," notes Josh Barnes. "And the dead animal on Ireland's pate is vanity at its worst." How can you say that, given we've just been remembering comb-over king Peter Swales?

65 min: Robinho takes another pop from just outside the area. Jorgensen throws his body in the way of the effort and it clanks away to safety. City are playing pretty well on the whole... but this is City, and there are a few furrowed brows. "This is a repeat of the match agaisnt Midjytlland where City trailed 1-0 and grabbed a very late goal to save themselves," writes George Templeton. "You know a hilariouys cockup is coming, it is Manchester City after all."

68 min: Robinho, flagged offside, throws his arms around ostentatiously in the direction of the linesman. How long has Bellamy been at City again? How long did this take?

71 min: As things stand, City are going through on away goals. You didn't need me to remind you of that, but there's not much else to say at the moment.

73 min: GOAL!!! Manchester City 1-0 Copenhagen. Bellamy has been City's busiest player, so he deserves this: Ireland sends a long, curling pass down the inside-left channel. Bellamy scampers after it. He shouldn't get to the ball first, but he puts pressure on Jorgensen by sitting right on his shoulder, and the defender slips. The City striker tears into the box and slips a confident shot past the advancing keeper and into the bottom-left corner. A wonderful finish. This, I would argue, is over.

74 min: It's so nearly a quick second as Bellamy cuts the ball back from the left to Bridge on the edge of the area. Bridge's shot is always rising over the bar - but not by much. You can sense the relief in the side.

76 min: Vingaard, who scored the last-minute equaliser in the first leg, replaces Norregaard.

78 min: What a miss by Robinho. Ireland lays the ball off to him on the edge of the six-yard box. He dances past two challenges with wonderful footwork, then tries to pass the ball into the bottom-left corner - but can only hit the outside of the post. That had to be 2-0. Anyway, we were talking about advertising hoardings, sort of, about an hour ago. "I was watching Stoke last weekend and the key moment sideboard ad was for Bargain Booze," notes Anthony Marc Hopkins. "Very classy touch. BTW, this is my office email which is why my full name comes up. Wouldn't want you think that I am a pretentious jerk. I go by Tony." Sure thing, Tone.

80 min: GOAL!!! Manchester City 2-0 Copenhagen. Robinho makes up for that preposterous miss by sashaying down the left, then cutting a perfect ball back from the byline to Bellamy, who's standing on the penalty spot. Bellamy finishes the move wonderfully, arrowing an effort into the top right. The two celebrate, which is nice to see given they've been squabbling behind the scenes like toddlers.

82 min: EVEN BETTER NEWS FOR CITY!!! THEIR BADGE ISN'T FASCISTIC "It more recalls the Hapsburg Empire," argues Drew JTS. "Dunno if that's more apt or not." Meanwhile Elano comes on for Zabaleta.

85 min: This is all about Bellamy, who from a Copenhagen corner clears Hutchinson's header off the line. Man of the match, not that you needed me to tell you that.

88 min: Bellamy is strutting around like a peacock. No jokes, please. "You ever noticed how Steven Ireland's ears are at mouth level rather than eye level like everyone else?" asks Alexander Netherton. No. Also, what's the deal with airplane peanuts?

89 min: Sionko takes a shot from a tight angle on the right. Given can only parry the powerful effort across the face of his goal. Ailton should convert, sliding in from the left, but can only clank the ball wide left. Very poor.

90 min +3: GOAL!!! Manchester City 2-1 Copenhagen. It's another last-minute goal from Vingaard, who from the right-hand edge of the City box sends a low, hard shot into the bottom corner! It's far too late to make any difference, though, as only seconds remain.

FULL TIME: Manchester City 2-1 Copenhagen. And indeed that is that. City make the last 16. They made hard work of tonight's win, but were never in danger of being knocked out. Meanwhile, it appears you can look like a City supporter these days (33 mins). "I was at Old Trafford," begins Mac Millings, "among United supporters a few years ago (don't ask me why - I still haven't managed to scrub off the stench of the Theatre of Self-Congratulation) to see the Manchester derby, and the only two City fans stood out a mile. Other than not bowing every time Cantona got the ball, they were also the only ones with lank mullets and pencil-thin moustaches. Also, when did Franny Lee knock Stephen Ireland up, then? Why am I always the last to hear about this stuff?" And that, our legal advisors will be pleased to hear, is that. Nighty night.

• Stale Solbakken attacks City's transfer policy
• 'The hardest part for City is that they are not a big football club'

Manchester City have been accused of 'destroying football' by the coach of Thursday's Uefa Cup opponents FC Copenhagen.

City tackle the Danish side in the first leg of their last 32 clash having been bolstered by the transfer window additions of Wayne Bridge, Craig Bellamy and Shay Given, plus Nigel de Jong, who is not eligible to play.

Having almost come a cropper in Denmark once earlier in the competition, when it required a last-minute own-goal to stave off elimination to Midtjylland, the City manager Mark Hughes will be eager to ensure there are no slip ups.

But Hughes' opposite number, the former Wimbledon player Stale Solbakken, is not impressed by the Eastlands revolution. "The amounts of money that have been mentioned are incredible," Solbakken told Ekstra-Bladet. "I think that such incredible sums will take part in destroying football. They are creating too big a mental distance between what we call reality and then Manchester City."

Although he did not mention the failed attempt to sign Brazilian superstar Kaka, Solbakken could have been referring to it with a stinging attack on how much difference the money being invested in City will actually make.

"The hardest part for City is that they, by tradition, are not a big football club and therefore all the money in the world does not make a difference for them," Solbakken said. "They brought in Wayne Bridge even though he is only marginally better than what they had already and that says how hard it is to get the best players even though you have lots of money."

Aberdeen's manager, Jimmy Calderwood, had urged his players to create their own bit of history last night and they did not disappoint. Scotland have three representatives in Europe beyond Christmas for the first time in 37 years after an outstanding second-half display from Aberdeen, whose 4-0 dismantling of FC Copenhagen ensured that they, and not the bewildered Danish champions, enter today's draw for the Uefa Cup's last 32.

Bayern Munich, Hamburg, Villarreal, Everton, Getafe, Bordeaux, Bayer Leverkusen and a potential £1m pay day await at that stage but Aberdeen will take their time to savour this triumph. Two Jamie Smith counters, an own-goal from Mikael Antonsson and a late Richard Foster strike secured Aberdeen's passage, a feat they had not achieved since 1986.

"We all know the history of this great club; now the lads have written their own bit," said the manager. "Some people have been derisory about the Uefa Cup; 20,000 people here tonight certainly weren't."

Much has changed, not least the level of expectation, in these parts since the halcyon days of the 1980s, when Alex Ferguson's side dominated at home and, at times, abroad. It is little wonder, then, that this memorable occasion was so warmly embraced by a capacity crowd.

The hosts opened smartly in temperatures more Siberian than Scottish, Lee Miller wasting a glorious opportunity within five minutes as he shot nearer the corner flag than the goal from 18 yards. The Danes' response came from Atiba Hutchinson but his effort sailed narrowly over.

Whatever message Calderwood delivered at half-time, it worked. Within seconds of the restart the talented Smith opened the scoring in memorable fashion to send the home supporters into their first bout of raptures. As the Copenhagen defence collectively paused with the ball bouncing 25 yards from their goal, Smith stole in to supply a dipping volley which sailed over Jesper Christiansen.

And better was to come. Eight minutes later the visiting defenders again switched off as Miller played a speculative lob towards Smith, whose low, left-foot shot defeated Christiansen. Smith should have completed a hat-trick but shot wide when sent clean through on the goalkeeper. It mattered not; the unfortunate Antonsson deflected a Miller cross into his own goal before Foster turned in a Chris Maguire cutback seven minutes from time.

Gordon Strachan remains under no illusions over the task facing him to make Celtic a realistic force in European competition as their woeful away run in the Champions League continued last night.

It cost the Scottish champions the opportunity of progressing to the last 16 as winners of Group F. Instead they finished as runners-up to Manchester United.

An ebullient FC Copenhagen dismantled Celtic, with Atiba Hutchinson and Jesper Gronkjaer putting the Danes two up early on before the outstanding Marcus Allback made it three so that Jiri Jarosik's late goal was immaterial. Celtic have failed to win in 12 trips away from Parkhead in this competition, a matter unlikely to go unnoticed by the other clubs in Friday week's draw for the knock-out stages.

"I know the problems and I'll sort them out, don't worry about that," said the Celtic manager. "We should have been celebrating with the fans here but defeat wipes that thought away. I know how to make the team better and I'll do it but the sense of disappointment is overwhelming just now."

With 90 seconds played Hutchinson played a one-two with Allback on the edge of the visitors' penalty area before dancing through a weak Celtic rearguard and slotting under Artur Boruc. Copenhagen, seeking to finish their first season in the group phase on a high, punished the wastefulness of Kenny Miller, who passed up two chances to equalise, as Gronkjaer fired home from six yards after Celtic failed to deal with one of many dangerous plays set up by Tobias Linderoth. Allback's well-deserved third finished the contest in the 57th minute. Strachan lost Stephen McManus due to a groin injury before Jarosik arrived at the back post to convert Shunsuke Nakamura's free-kick.

"If Celtic can go through to the last 16, there is no reason why a Danish team cannot do the same," said the Copenhagen manager, Stale Solbakken. "There is very little between the teams."

Manchester United's progress to the knockout stages was stalled on a night of sub-zero temperatures and substandard performances. Sir 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 that were exposed in losing to such ordinary opponents.

Marcus Allback, a striker who managed only six goals in two years at Aston Villa, stabbed in the decisive goal 73 minutes into a galling evening for England's biggest club, one that ruined their immaculate record in Group F. The Premiership leaders were desperately short of their best form, lacking any creativity or penetration. Copenhagen were willing opponents, yet limited ones, and it does not reflect well on United's long-term chances when considering the greater calibre of teams who will need to be vanquished later in the competition.

Those thoughts will have been on Ferguson's mind on the flight home to Manchester last night, as well as taking the gloss off his 20th-anniversary commemorations over the next week. But he will know the damage should be only superficial and that United were undoubtedly hindered by the absence of key players.

Ferguson was justified, too, in complaining about the effects of a Bruce Springsteen concert last weekend on the pitch. Large expanses of the turf had been so badly trampled as to destroy any grass and expose the mud. Downpours throughout the afternoon, and even the odd blizzard, had exacerbated the problem and there were areas so rutted and non-conducive to professional football it was like playing marbles on cobblestones.

"The pitch was very difficult and that's why it was the game it was," said Ferguson. "There wasn't a lot of football. It wasn't an easy pitch and it took us 20 minutes just to get any rhythm."

In the circumstances it was unreasonable to expect United to reproduce the exhilarating one-touch passing and movement seen at Bolton on Saturday, but Ferguson was surely stretching the truth when he said United had been "in control of the match" and insisted he was happy with the number of chances they created. It was a classic Ferguson ploy of protecting his players from public criticism and he followed it with several disparaging remarks about Copenhagen, effectively portraying their tactics as no more refined than the 80s Wimbledon and sniping that "what football there was came from us".

Ferguson rarely admits mistakes in public but, privately, he may feel compelled to consider his own team selection, most notably the absence of Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes. With Ryan Giggs, Louis Saha and Gary Neville injured, he selected only five who can realistically consider themselves mandatory first-team picks and, perhaps inevitably, there were long spells when the team struggled to replicate their highest levels of cohesion and fluency. In all the tributes to Ferguson over the coming days, his admirers may have to overlook the overconfidence he showed in making six changes from his victorious side at the weekend.

With a stronger team United could have taken an early grip on the game. Instead they flickered only sporadically. Wayne Rooney huffed and puffed but to little effect, Cristiano Ronaldo was strangely peripheral and the same could be said of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who eventually left the pitch with a hamstring strain.

An injury to Nemanja Vidic completed a hugely disappointing night. Michael Carrick's passing was safe rather than incisive and John O'Shea again looked conspicuously short of what it takes to be a central midfielder at the highest level. With Darren Fletcher slowly winning over his detractors, O'Shea is in danger of becoming the player the United fans fret about the most. He squandered their most inviting opportunity, 10 minutes after the interval, and it was to be a costly miss.

Edwin van der Sar, the fifth United player to be captain this season, was largely untroubled in the first three- quarters of the game. On their return from injury Gabriel Heinze and Mikaël Silvestre generally coped well and Allback's decisive contribution was an unexpected twist.

Heinze, in particular, will wince when he sees the replays, having failed to clear as Atiba Hutchinson headed down a left-wing cross for Allback inside the six-yard area. Not one United player in a congested penalty area reacted in time and Allback poked the ball past the hopelessly exposed Van der Sar. "It was a bad goal for us to lose because we knew their danger was from set pieces," Ferguson said. "Until then our defending had been very good and they had never looked like scoring."

Scholes, a substitute, had a late chance to salvage a draw but the goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen charged down his attempted lob. Then Ronaldo turned in Rooney's stoppage-time cross only for the effort to be disallowed because he was offside. The linesman's flag means United's qualification will have to wait until, at least, the visit to Celtic in 19 days.