AS Roma down 10-man United 2-1

By James Eve

ROME (Reuters) - 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.

United manager Alex Ferguson was confident, however, of reaching the semi-finals.

"Over the years we've had some great teams come to Old Trafford, but if we score we will go through. That's my opinion," he told a news conference.

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.