Man United fans throw tennis balls on field before stunning comeback

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United fans attempted to disrupt the Champions League match against AS Roma on Tuesday by throwing tennis balls onto the pitch at Old Trafford.

United was 2-0 down inside 18 minutes, with the protest having been pre-planned and flagged on social media earlier in the day.

It ended up causing only a brief delay, with just a small number of balls being thrown from the Stretford End and quickly removed by players.

The protest was nothing like as disruptive as a similar demonstration by Celtic fans last year when trying to bring about a change in their club's hierarchy.

United supporters have tried in vain for years to force regime change at their club with numerous protests against American owners the Glazer family.

Minority owner British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has also come in for criticism in the face of the club's on-field problems and increased ticket prices.

Ratcliffe, the owner of petrochemical giant INEOS, assumed control of the soccer operations after buying an initial 25% stake for $1.3 billion in 2024. Since then the 20-time English champion has fired two coaches, while Michael Carrick's position is under intense scrutiny after a troubled start to the season.

The Glazers have been unpopular among fans since their leveraged buyout of the club in 2005.

The protest was timed for 21 minutes to mark 21 years of the Glazers' ownership.

United went into Tuesday's game on a nine-game winless run and was quickly behind against Roma when Matìas Soulè struck after 11 minutes.

Seven minutes later, Donyell Malen made it 2-0 with a penalty before Bruno Fernandes restored some hope to the home fans with a penalty to cut the lead in half.

Manchester United have had a historically bad start to the 2026-27 campaign and were in 17th place in the Premier League going into the match against Roma.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.