Lille 0, Manchester United 1.

Sir Alex Ferguson branded Lille coach Claude Puel ''a disgrace'' after the Frenchman tried to haul his team off the pitch during their 1-0 Champions League loss to Manchester United in Lens last night.

Puel was furious that Ryan Giggs' 83rd-minute match-winner was allowed to stand after the Welshman fired a quick free kick into the top corner when Lille keeper Tony Silva was still lining up his wall.

The home players surrounded Dutch referee Eric Braamhaar to voice their protests and when play stopped, they were called to the touchline by goalkeeping coach Jean Noel Duse.

At that stage, it appeared Lille would try to get the game abandoned but with Ferguson calling for his own team to continue the game, common sense prevailed.

''I have never seen anything like that in football,'' said Ferguson. ''I cannot understand it. It was a disgrace. It created a hostile atmosphere. Gary Neville was struck by an object thrown from the side of the pitch and all sorts of objects were thrown at our bench."

Ferguson pointed out that Giggs' strike was similar to the Thierry Henry effort against Chelsea in the Premiership a couple of years ago.

The United boss admitted the officials had not spoken to his team before the game but insisted it didn't matter.

''You look to the referee to get an indication as to whether he will allow the free-kick to be taken,'' said Ferguson.

''Ryan asked if he could take it; the referee moved away and that is it as far as I'm concerned.''

Neville left the stadium with a gash on his face, although it is not known whether that was the result of the object thrown at him.

Edwin Van der Sar suffered double vision as a result of the tear gas fired into the visiting section of the crowd during the opening period.

Officials from both UEFA and United will be anxious to determine the reason for the apparent crush at the front of the section which led to a disturbance that riot police tried to sort out in a most inappropriate manner.

If, as has been reported, officials took the decision to open the stand to supporters who did not have valid tickets for the area, then Europe's governing body will be forced to take action over what could have been a chilling reminder of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989.

Last night no one was hurt, although for a couple of minutes a tragedy seemed set to unfold.

Understandably perhaps, Puel was anxious to play down his own team's conduct, although he did admit tempers had reached boiling point not only as a result of Giggs' goal but also because an effort from Peter Odemwingie was disallowed while the scores were level.

''We had had one goal disallowed and then a free-kick like that. It was a real shame. We didn't deserve that," said Puel.

''I would like to underline the fact that the players never intended to leave the field. In France, our way of expressing our complaint is when the ball next goes out of play.''

Puel responded to Ferguson's attack with some critical comments of his own.

''I have heard this before from Sir Alex Ferguson because he likes to influence the referee."

The controversy overshadowed an awful game.

It was fully 42 minutes before either side mustered a shot on goal, the half chance created by the willingness of Wayne Rooney and Henrik Larsson to press the ball deep inside the Lille area.

Ronaldo was on to the opportunity in an instant but, with red-shirted defenders flying on to the scene, the Portugal winger could do no more than fire straight at Tony Sylva, who blocked the shot with his body.

The busiest man on the pitch was referee Braamhaar, who booked four men. Thankfully for United, none of them was Paul Scholes, who knew a caution would rule him out of the return leg.

The action improved markedly after the break and the hosts thought they had scored after 62 minutes when Peter Odemwingie rose above Vidic to glance home Ludovic Obraniak's cross.

Braamhaar came to United's rescue, ruling out the goal for a push on Vidic by the Lille forward.

Giggs' winner unleashed a storm of controversy that left Braamhaar to face a barrage of abuse as he left the field.