A game that was lacking in drama on the field exploded off it as Manchester United inched closer to their first Champions League quarter-final in four years with a controversial victory over Lille at the Félix-Bollaert Stadium last night.

United had looked more like losing than winning until events swung in their favour in the 84th minute when Ryan Giggs scored with a quickly taken free kick. But it was the reaction the goal drew from the home team which ensured that a remarkable game ended as it started, in controversy that is certain to have the disciplinary unit at Uefa, European football’s governing body, working hard today.

Wayne Rooney put the ball down 25 yards out after Lille had conceded a foul, and with Tony Sylva, the goalkeeper, still trying to organise his wall, Giggs floated his free kick into the opposite corner.

As television replays showed, Giggs had clearly asked Eric Braamhaar, the referee, if he could take the free kick quickly, but when the Dutch official signalled for a goal, the decision sparked fury among the home team, so much so that Jean-Noël Dusé, the Lille goalkeeping coach, tried to get their players to walk off the pitch in protest.

It was an unbelievable scene that took an even more unseemly turn when Gary Neville, the United captain, was struck by a white flag pole thrown from the crowd as he tried to remonstrate with Lille’s players, who appeared dumbfounded. As if that were not enough, the game had earlier been blighted when riot police fired teargas at United supporters in the away end.

United will be making an official complaint to Uefa. Phil Townsend, the club’s director of communications, said: “We met after the game with Uefa officials, delegates from the FA and police to discuss the issues. We want to hear the accounts of supporters who may have been involved and we will submit an official report to Uefa.”

The incidents were such that the result was almost redundant, but, as it stands, United will have every confidence of progressing when Lille visit Old Trafford in a fortnight.

United sailed close to the wind on too many occasions. They had enough chances to win the game more comfortably, particularly through Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney, who have not scored in 38 Champions League games between them, but Lille had plenty of chances of their own.

United’s circumstances going into the game could not have been more different than they were the last time they faced Lille on that chastening evening at the Stade de France in Paris 15 months ago when, struggling for form, dogged by injury and plagued by the in-fighting that led to the departure of Roy Keane, they were beaten 1-0.

Not that United looked like a team in ruder health last night. Fifteen minutes had elapsed when, with United displaying the hesitancy that has been their undoing away from home in Europe, hordes of visiting supporters began clambering onto the fences that were pinning them in. It appeared that a number of United fans with tickets for the Lille end were wrongly allowed into the away section, sparking fears among the 5,000 or so supporters already camped there that they might be crushed.

Mistaking concerns for their safety as attempts to invade the pitch or cause trouble, riot police began firing teargas which, unsurprisingly, prompted mayhem in the stands. Even Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper, appeared affected by the gas and afterwards complained of suffering from double vision.

Braamhaar briefly seemed to consider calling a halt to the game, but when calm was restored after ten minutes, matters turned once again to football, of which there was little before the game became more expansive in a fraught second period.

United were having trouble keeping the ball, Ronaldo and Rooney, not for the first time in Europe, were struggling to get into the game, and Henrik Larsson was isolated up front, all of which imbued Lille, 125-1 outsiders to win the competition, with a growing sense of purpose.

Given their wonderful form of late — the pair had scored a total of 13 goals in their past 11 games — Rooney and Ronaldo’s inertia could not continue for much longer and within nine minutes of the restart, they had served warning of their intentions, even if it failed to knock out of their stride a resilient Lille team who looked a threat going forward.

Rooney was the first to threaten, the England tyro racing 50 yards into the penalty area, but rather than shooting, he elected to chip to the back post just too far in front of the onrushing Giggs. Three minutes later, Ronaldo outpaced Gregory Tafforeau to latch on to Rooney’s perfect pass, but shot straight at the goalkeeper. The winger teed up Rooney, but again the forward’s shooting boots deserted him.

Lille were not done and Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were indebted to Van der Sar in the 58th minute when Mathieu Bodmer wriggled into the six-yard box only to be thwarted by the legs of the goalkeeper. Peter Odemwingie then found the net with a diving header from Ludovic Obraniak’s delivery, but the goal was disallowed as he was rightly adjudged to have pushed Vidic.

United, for all their domestic swagger, clearly do not like playing in France, but then this was not a night that will be remembered for the football.

Lille (4-2-3-1): T Sylva — M Chalmé, N Plestan, E Tavlaridis, G Tafforeau — M Bodmer, J Makoun — M Debuchy, N Fauvergue (sub: Y Cabaye, 57min), L Obraniak — P Odemwingie (sub: J Audel, 75). Substitutes not used: G Malicki, Rafael, M Bastos, S Lichtsteiner, K Mirallas. Booked: Sylva, Debuchy, Fauvergue.

Manchester United (4-4-2): E van der Sar — G Neville, R Ferdinand, N Vidic, P Evra — C Ronaldo (sub: L Saha, 67), M Carrick, P Scholes (sub: J O’Shea, 90), R Giggs — H Larsson, W Rooney. Substitutes not used: T Kuszczak, W Brown, Park Ji Sung, D Fletcher, M Silvestre. Booked: Vidic, Evra.

Referee: E Braamhaar (Netherlands).

Lille whistling in the wind

United appear to have the rules on their side. According to the laws of the game, the referee does not need to blow his whistle to signal that a free kick can be taken. The team that have been awarded the free kick can ask the referee to intervene by setting the opponents back ten yards, in which case the official must whistle for the kick to be taken. Eric Braamhaar, last night’s referee, appeared to ask United’s players which option they wanted. Ryan Giggs’s reply prompted the referee to move aside, so the quick free kick appears to have been legitimate.

Two precedents

Thierry Henry (Arsenal away to Aston Villa, Jan 18, 2004): Villa’s wall is not ready but Mark Halsey, the referee, allows Henry to score.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea away to West Ham United, Feb 6, 2002): David James, the West Ham goalkeeper, is still arranging his wall when Graham Poll, the referee, steps away from the ball and Hasselbaink hammers it into the corner.