Pale United struggle in Prague
Manchester United's stuttering domestic form was exported to Europe as Sir Alex Ferguson's side struggled to secure a goalless draw against Sparta Prague.
Manchester United's stuttering domestic form was exported to Europe as Sir Alex Ferguson's side struggled to secure a goalless draw against Sparta Prague.
Given the way they went to salute their supporters at the end of the match, the Czech champions appeared satisfied to have claimed their first point in group D.
It might easily have been three however with only the woodwork and the legs of United goalkeeper Roy Carroll denying Sparta's lone striker Tomas Jun the goal that his efforts deserved.
United badly missed Rio Ferdinand, who missed the trip to attend his grandmother's funeral, and Roy Keane, sidelined by a virus, and the absence of those steadying influences took less than two minutes to make itself felt.
Jun's intelligent knockdown on the right of the box found an unmarked Lukas Zelenka charging into the box and the midfielder was sent sprawling by an untidy, late challenge from Paul Scholes.
Italian referee Massimo de Santis's decision that contact had been made fractionally outside the area appeared harsh on the home side.
Scholes made amends with a delightful chip that sent Rooney scurrying clear on the right to deliver a drilled cross that Radoslav Kovac deflected dangerously close to his own goal.
The incident was illustrative of the relative ease with which the visitors were able to get behind the home side's defence but it was not until two efforts from Rooney in the final five minutes of the opening period that United were able to match the Sparta centre-back's effort.
A cleanly struck 25-yard drive was deflected just wide of the upright and the teenager was equally close two minutes later after Gabriel Heinze had intercepted goalkeeper Jaromir Blazek's suicidally slack clearance.
By that stage Sparta should have been in front courtesy of Zelenka, who dragged his 26th minute shot wide after being left with only Carroll to beat courtesy of Mikael Silvestre's failure to intercept former United midfielder Karel Poborsky's pass into the box.
There was further frustration for the home supporters in the final minute of the first half. A good save from Carroll kept out the impressive Poborsky's fiercely struck shot from a tight angle and, from the resulting corner, Jun's header struck the outside of the post.
More chaotic defending handed Poborsky another chance shortly after the restart. A breakdown in communication between Carroll and his defenders saw a loose ball fall to the Czech international and the United goalkeeper had to back-pedal at pace to keep out an improvised chip with the outside of the boot.
Sparta's growing confidence was underlined when Petr Vorisek unleashed a swerving left-foot shot from distance that thumped into Carroll's midriff.
Despite their lack of fluency, United remained a threat on the break and John O'Shea might have made more of a Rooney cutback that he stabbed over the bar.
Sparta's final chance to claim a win they badly needed after losing their first two matches in the group came 18 minutes from the end when Jun latched on to a long ball into the box and wriggled into space only to be denied by the legs of Carroll.
United too had an opportunity to steal victory when van Nistelrooy's cross from the right ran straight through to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo beyond the back post.
The Portugal winger's mistimed contact and his frustrated reaction summed up United's night.
They had sufficient chances here to be confident enough of taking all three points when Sparta visit Old Trafford at the start of next month. On this form however Arsenal on Sunday could be a very different matter.