The referee has no obligation to wait for the team he has just penalised to marshall their players.

The rules of the game are that the attacking team have been impeded, and as such it is up to how long that team take before taking the kick.

A wall is a defensive stratergy, and not a pre-requisite for installation before a free-kick may be taken.

As has been said before, by putting a man over the ball they could have forced the ref to prevent the kick being taken until he was satisfied that the punished teams players were 10 yards away from the football.

As they didn't do that, they cannot complain that the kick was taken early..
They were organised enough to ensure they were 10 yards!

Mao, Salford,

As regard to the Lille manager's comments regarding how French teams react to decisions against them, it just goes to show why Jerry Lewis is seen to be a comic genius by the citizens of that country.

James Fisher, sydney nsw, australia

To: Martin Briggs - Oh well if the intellectual monsters and footballing sages of ITV think it was spot on, it MUST have been. They're the biggest MU sycophants there are. How long was it since we heard Clive Tyldesley go all misty eyed over "that night in Barcelona" yet again? Sheesh, it makes you sick!

Calamity Jim, Not Manchester, England

sorry, bitter and deluded calamity jim (not from manchester?... surely, you're more likely to be a united supporter?), but the ref was right to disallow lille's goal and to allow united's. it's a cheesy way to score, but if arsenal can do it..... (well, not last night, but still....). he should have given wayne rooney a penalty as well. we were robbed! it would have served lille right if united had played on and scored whilst they were having their hissy fit at the side of the pitch. still, going on strike is the french national sport (when they're not burning our sheep and cattle).

more importantly, of course, people's lives were put in danger by the organisational stupidity and typical police overreaction. why are the police in europe allowed to get away with treating fans like this? that's the real disgrace.

jem, london, england

You have to be absolutely blind not to realize that the combination of the harshly disallowed goal and the most unsporting free-kick I have ever seen - whether legal or not- is highly suspect. If you're a ManU fan, just imagine it happened to your team. What would you think of the ref ? Besides, allow me to put one thing right. The players never ever wanted to walk off. They went to the side of the pitch with the intention to file an official complaint, which is the way things are done in France, although it is extremely rare to be granted a re-match. When I started football 37 years ago- 42, still playing- I was tought the ref is part of the game like the wind or the rain. Anything like last night ,though, will always be hard to accept. Of course it doesn't justify violence from the supporters. Funny nobody noticed the fair-play of the French players after the game who even shook hands with Giggs...Although I've always amired him, I don't think I could have managed that.

Danile, Vannes, France

Another performance that just about covered the cracks of MU in Europe.

Lacking the technical and tactical ability against superior ball holding teams they may well progress here, (just) but progress past the last eight will take a huge improvement that this team does not have.

F.S.LAWS, MANCHESTER,

mjt, you do seem very bitter for some reason.

"and play the best football in the country by far."
don't you watch arsenal ???

"They may not win the Champions League this year, but they have a much better chance than Liverpool."
why do man utd fans worry about liverpool more than their own club ???

strange breed indeed

beemar, warrington, uk

To Arie, Schiedam,

Lille couldn't have taken a free kick like that as they don't know the rules that apply in football. In france what interrests them is Arsenal, so they sould have known better as T.Henry is the french specialist in that department ( taking free kick quickly)

delcourt, Montcy notre dame, France

If Giggs was told, by the referee, that he was allowed to take a quick one that is the end of the matter. You can understand Lille being upset - but that's down to their own slow-wittedness. As I have said before professional teams play the referee for what they can get. You don't have a right to a wall at a free kick and Lille can't complain when they were unprepared. They only have themselves to blame. Having said that I would love to have seen Ferguson's face if that had happened at Old Trafford !!!

Damian, London, London

I don't know in what way MU has won yesterday, that was surely not football.
Everything we can say is that there is no more 'Sir Alex F' inside the team, it is now 'Fergie'.
You can dance the moon and play with the market, you'll never know what sport is. Great skill, big team spirit in a perfect strategy.

MaximeN, Zürich,

Calamity Jim, when was the last time a Man United had taken or been allowed to take a quick free kick? Henry has done this twice and each time it was put across as quick thinking by a great player. The ref can clearly be seen asking Giggs if he wished to take the quick free kick, which do not need to be preceded by a whistle, and Giggs decided to take it.

Arie, what a lot of boulderdash, if Lille had taken that same penalty and the ref had agreed to allow trhe quick free kick and would have stood. The decision to allow was not by Man Utd, but the ref!

Regards the diasallowed goal, Vidic was in front and diving to head the ball away, any push from behind when one is about to launch oneself to the ball would have a more pronounced effect!

Raj, london,

A dour game until it nearly did really kick off. Sneaky pre-match tactics by Lille presented an unwatered hard pitch which gave Lille the advantage and hindered accurate passing.
Incompetent management of the stadium crowds put United fans in real danger and the response by Police was disgraceful - surely an apology is due to the fans and UEFA action?
A dubious decision to dissallow Lille's goal; perhaps, but United (and England) have suffere this in the past (Scholes goal against Porto wrongly ruled 'offside' dumped them out a few years back) and took it with dignity. Giggs goal was pure genius and totally legal (a la T. Henry)But as Al Murray says 'Rules is Rules' and 'where would you be without rules? France'.

Simon Mitchelmore, LONDON, UK

A big team goal - if that had been Lille it would have been chopped off and the free-kick taker would have been booked. It is disgusting that UEFA can bo so pedantic as to restrict the songs played before European games to their banal anthem but they cannot even agree that football should be played to the whistle.

ed lancey, london,

Why is it that when stuff like this happens, all the usual anti-utd cliches crop up. "Isn't it funny how quickly taken free kicks only appear to be allowed when MU are taking them." says Calamity Jim, presumably the foudner member of Anyone But United. Riiiiight! When was the last time? Henry seems to be quite keen on those, and he is not the only one. They are fairly common. If the ref says you can do it, then you can, so there can be no complaints. If it had hit the wall, the game would have gone on - that is the trade off. Maybe its just that united's players dont hit them into the wall. I can understand why the lille players/fans were frustrated having had a goal disallowed, but these things happen. The striker did push Vidic, even if he seemed to go down quite easily, so there can be no complaints with it being struck off. But threatening to walk off the pitch is unacceptable.

David, Lytham,

Perhaps "Renton from London" should have watched the crowd scenes and the way that the French police handled them before wading in with his holier-than-thou comments. Or maybe just read the article properly. The Man Utd fans were being crushed against a 10 ft fence as more people were ushered into a seating area than should have been. Their attempts to escape were met with baton-wielding french police - perhaps it was the authorities to which his "vent their aggression" comments were directed?

Stuart, Bristol, UK

Money talks in the CL. Was proven again yesterday. If Lille had taken this freekick I am 100% convinced the goal would not have been allowed. But from TV revenue perspective it is important to keep Man Utd in the tournament, so if the ref can help them a bit he surely would.

Arie, Schiedam,

Poor Calamity Jim. So biased, so blinkered. I seem to remember both ITV pundits stating the ref had got both decisions "absolutely spot on".

Martin Briggs, London, England

What about the free kicks taken by Theiry Henry last season...twice. Forgive me if Im wrong but he doesnt play for United Mr Calamity Jim. Know your football knowledge before making comment. Henry isnt the only one either!

Dave, Manchester,

Referees are only human beings like ourselves and there is too much money and power play in the game... Big teams are always going to get a preferred treatment, we see it week in week out in the Premiership! This being said, this is no excuse to recourse to violence.

Antoine , London,

as an antipodean, I must say that I find all of this over-the-top crowd behaviour in European and UK football absolutely mind-boggling. is it perhaps time for people to find some other way to vent their aggression? the article makes out that this was some kind of one off. but the way i see it, similar things happen week in and week out. get a life.

renton, London,

Thank you for your comments, Jim Callaghan - Liverpool fan.

Perhaps you would be better advised to worry about your own side before they play this evening; what with dissent in their own ranks, golf-club wielding team-mates, and arguments in the changing room about who's going to sing "Sail across the Mersey" at the half time karaoke.

United produced a below-bar performance, yet came away with a 1-0 win which will see them comfortably through. They have the best 2 young players in the world, a solid defence and play the best football in the country by far.

They may not win the Champions League this year, but they have a much better chance than Liverpool.

MJT, Manchester,

Isn't it funny how quickly taken free kicks only appear to be allowed when MU are taking them. Especially poignant when only a few minutes after a perfectly good goal was denied to Lille. Frankly, I was shocked to find Mike "Stretford End" Riley wasn't the ref. Hmm.

Calamity Jim, Not Manchester, England

United will win the Premier League this year, and deservedly too.

Adrian Lee, Muscat, Oman

A very disappointing match for United fans. I never expected our vaunted defence to be so troubled by Lille's aerial bombardment. We should have had more control of possession and we missed a hard man like gattuso or Keano who would have ruthlessly intimidated and controlled the proceedings. Lille dominated in far too many patches. Having said that, a better pitch would have made things easier and suited United more and we did have some fantastic chances to score.

Rezwan, Dhaka,

a less than convincing display that suggests united will again fall short of landing a third champions crown.after a skittish first half display,united weathered the storm to snatch a cheeky lead thanks to giggs taking a leaf out of thierry henrys book .what ensued thereafter brought the game almost into a french farce.admittedly l feel fergie would not have been happy to concede such a goal.the return leg will test the referees abilities to the limit.thats if it takes place at all,as uefa will look upon lilles behaviour as unacceptable.so united to go through to the last four ,but no further.not on this display.larrson appears to be heading home earlier than expected,at what may be a time they need his guile most.saha flatters united may yet regret selling van the man.what price a real madrid v united semi,with becks making an emotional return ?funny old game.

jim callaghan, liverpool, lancashire