Manchester United trail CSKA Moscow 1-0 at half time courtesy of Seydou Doumbia's 15th-minute strike in their Champions League clash.
Following a rather tame start to the contest the home side began to settle quicker than their opponents, with Dusan Tadic firing in an early warning when his shot deflected narrowly wide.
The Russian outfit did not have to wait much longer to make a breakthrough, though, and it came on the back of Anthony Martial's handball inside the box to gift CSKA a penalty.
Roman Eremenko saw his effort kept out by David de Gea, who also managed to get to the rebound first to clear away, but it fell into the path of Doumbia to rifle home the opener.
It could have been two for the Red-Blues soon after, if not for De Gea's crucial stop to deny Ahmed Musa's smart shot which was dipping in off the frame.
United were largely frustrated for the remainder of the opening 45 minutes as they chased a leveller, but Wayne Rooney did flash one wide of the post shortly before the interval to offer some hope for the second half.