Manchester United 0-1 Besiktas match report: The Daily Mirror verdict

The learning curve in football is often a steep and painful one, as Manchester United's young players learned to their cost last night.

Challenged by Sir Alex Ferguson to seize their chance to impress on the biggest club stage of all, United's next generation of stars endured a night to forget at Old Trafford.

United surrendered two proud records with this defeat, notbaly their 23-match unbeaten run at home in the Champions League, which stretched back to February 2005 following a 1-0 loss to AC Milan.

It was also United's first defeat at Old Trafford in the group stage for eight years, when Fabien Barthez's barmy goalkeeping handed Deoprtivo La Coruna a 3-2 win in October 2001,

Despite his dismay at losing, Fergie remained philosophical in defeat, insisting his faith in the likes of Darron Gibson, Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda and Gabriel Obertan had not been shaken by the surprise loss.

Indeed, Welbeck and Obertan did more than enough to prove they have the potential to be a long-term success at United, while Gibson and Macheda's graduation from fringe to first-team player is likely to take longer.

And despite being only 19, Rafael Da Silva has already proved his first-team pedigree with 31 appearances to his name, despite his tender years.

Even with long-term servants Gary Neville and Wes Brown - 34 and 30 respectively - in the side, Fergie's otherwise youthful line-up boasted an average age of 24, emphasising its relative inexperience at this level.

Keen to impress, Macheda and Welbeck buzzed with intent up front, their movement and pace causing their opponents anxiety, although they were unable to apply the killer touch in the final third.

Nemanja Vidic should have scored in the 13th minute when presented with a free header from an Anderson corner, but somehow contrived to direct the ball embarrassingly wide of the target.

United were in the ascendancy, Gibson twice going close with long-range efforts and Macheda tormenting the Besiktas defence with a teasing run before pulling the ball wide of the goal, it seemed a goal was inevitable.

That it went to the Turkish champions, in the 20th minute, was a major shock, given United's early dominance and succession of goalscoring opportunities.

There seemed little danger when midfielder Rodrigo Tello picked the ball up midway inside the United half. Tello took a couple of touches before unleashing a dipping 30-yard shot which profited from a deflection off Rafael.

Yet even with the slight deviation the deflection afforded the flight of the ball, Ben Foster - recalled for the first time in a month - was slow to react and hurled himself at the spinning ball in vain.

Foster wore a look of shock and dismay, one he has become accustomed to this season following high-profile blunders for club and country, Fergie's apparent faith in his ability looking like misplaced blind loyalty.

To their credit, United's youngsters reacted to the setback with increased vigour and puropose, the irrepressible Welbeck illuminating the attack with his languid runs and quick brain.

Welbeck produced an elegantly-weighted reverse pass on the half-hour into the path of Obertan, but he took one touch too many and ultimately saw his angled near-post effort blocked.

A point was all United needed to win Group B, but Fergie's experimental side ended up making hard work of the task, Gibson summing up their desperation in the 38th minute by scooping a 25-yard shot high into the stands.

United received a let-off five minutes before the break when a quick exchange between Bobo and Michael Fink ended with the latter curling a low shot past Foster, only for it to glance the outside of a post and run behind.

Besiktas were content to adopt a policy of containment, happy to sit on their slender advantage after the break and pack men behind the ball, inviting United on to them.

United, sensing their chance, upped the tempo. Obertan forced a save from Rustu Recber on the hour and came close with a looping header in the fall-out from the resulting corner.

Fergie's men needed a flash of inspiration from somewhere, the United boss throwing on Michael Owen with 22 minutes remaining in a desperate attempt to plunder an equaliser.

Michael Carrick and Patrice Evra soon followed, as United's proud unbeaten run at home in Europe ebbed away, with Besiktas defending in numbers.

Evra went down under a body-check from Ibrahim Kas in the 86th minute, Fergie leaping from his seat in the United dug-out to demand a penalty.

The crude challenge certainly looked intentional but French referee Stephane Lannoy refused to be swayed, much to Evra and, in particular, Fergie's annoyance.

In a frantic finale, United twice came close staging another last-gasp escape act. In the 93rd minute, Rustu Recber saved a Macheda header at point-blank range, after good work from Anderson.

And deep into added time, with Foster having sprinted from his goal to add to the United personnel in the Besiktas area, Recber produced another fine save, this time to keep out a goal-bound header from Brown, before the final whistle shrilled.