As United's first-team were held to a 1-1 draw by the Kaizer Chiefs, the reserves were in action at Altrincham.

Solskjaer made three changes from the side that won 3-1 at Burscough - with Gary Woods, Sam Hewson and Jimmy Derbyshire all in action for the second string.

Two goals before half-time from young Italian Federico Macheda - and a second-half strike from the highly-rated Rodrigo Possebon were enough to give the Red Devils victory despite some stubborn resistance

However, the headlines will not be taken by United's victory but, instead, by crowd violence that resulted in the game being abandoned with six minutes, plus injury-time, still to play.

Friendlies against neighbours Altrincham always have an element of extra spice - but the crowd trouble that saw this fixture ended with 84 minutes on the clock really does beggar belief.

A few minutes after Possebon's strike - United's third of the afternoon - around thirty travelling fans clambered onto the pitch and, shockingly, started confronting Altrincham's players. As things got ugly, the referee decided to march the players off the field and the match came to an end.

Ironically, Altrincham's next pre-season date is a home friendly against break-away club FC United of Manchester.

Full Time - Altrincham 0-3 Manchester United Reserves

After the game, Altrincham F.C released a statement condemning the behaviour of a section of our travelling support.

"The Board of Altrincham Football Club wish to condemn the behaviour of the section of visiting supporters at Saturday's pre-season fixture against a Manchester United XI. We have hosted friendly matches against Manchester United on numerous occasions over many decades and there has not been a single unsavoury incident. The events at Moss Lane on Saturday afternoon took everyone by surprise and we would like to thank our stewards for the calm way in which they handled a very difficult situation.

"The behaviour of these individuals was an embarrassment to both clubs and the vast majority in attendance and whilst no arrests were made, we have done everything that we can to support the Police in providing film and photographic evidence of the scenes that ultimately led to the abandonment of the game.

"We have been in discussion today with representatives of our next opponents F.C. United of Manchester and can confirm that, subject to gaining Police consent, we will be going ahead with the game, which will kick off at 7.45pm. Altrincham and F.C. United of Manchester will be working together to ensure that the security measures in place for this game provide a safe environment for supporters of each club."

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