Carlos Tevez’s fifth goal in a week after just three minutes seemed to set the Red Devils up for a comfortable win – and what would have been only the holders’ third in Europe this term.

But an unexpected first-half response from the visitors left United trailing at the interval.

Although Wayne Rooney levelled, the hosts could not find a winner – knowing they will be in Japan on Club World Cup duty on Friday week when a last-16 draw is made that could pair them with, among others, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Sir Alex Ferguson promised changes and duly made them, nine in all from the side that scraped a win against Sunderland on Saturday.

The Scot’s most significant move was to put Tevez back alongside Rooney in a European tie for the first time since last May’s final victory over Chelsea.

After netting four times against Blackburn seven days ago, Tevez is a man in form – and there could have been no better man to be presented with United’s first chance.

It was a delightful move too as Ryan Giggs fed Rooney, took the chested return pass and lofted the ball beyond the static Aalborg defence. Tevez sized up the opportunity and slid a precise shot past Karim Zaza.

On the Red Devils’ next attack, Aalborg were carved open again as Anderson found Rooney – and the England man quickly set up Tevez with an astute reverse pass.

It seemed certain the Argentinian would find the net a second time. Instead he slipped his shot wide.

It did not seem to matter much as Anderson and Nani followed Tevez – again – in peppering the visitors’ goal.

At that point, it was difficult to see exactly how the Danes have managed to secure a UEFA Cup place at Celtic’s expense, held Villarreal on home soil and scored against the Spanish outfit three times at El Madrigal.

But slowly Aalborg gained in confidence – and, taking advantage of the slackness that appeared in United’s play, they promptly equalised.

Ferguson will demand to know why his side’s marking went so badly awry when Anders Due skimmed over a left-footed free-kick. Once free and in space at the near post, Michael Jakobsen stooped to flick a header out of Tomasz Kuszczak’s reach.

Kuszczak’s presence was something of a surprise, given Ben Foster had appeared at the pre-match press conference – and the Pole was unhappily picking the ball out of his net again in stoppage time.

Again, Due was the provider – floating an excellent cross to the far post that invited Jeppe Curth’s superb headed finish, which was well out of Kuszczak’s range as it curled neatly home.

The reaction of Aalborg coach Allan Kuhn – who had presided over a 12-match unbeaten run since replacing Bruce Rioch in October – was reminiscent to that of Jose Mourinho when, still relatively unknown, he guided Porto past United on their way to winning the tournament five years ago.

While Ferguson exuded calm authority, inside he must have been seething. The interval introductions of Paul Scholes and Park Ji-sung hinted at displeasure, so Rooney’s well-taken equaliser seven minutes after the restart would have gone down well.

Rooney’s seventh of the season, the same as Tevez, was a ferocious thrash at Anderson’s through ball and came not long after he had pole-axed Jakobsen with a dangerous but seemingly accidental challenge as he tried to retrieve possession.

The fire continued to flow through Rooney’s body even though, with parity restored and Villarreal losing, only professional pride was at stake as United’s list of potential knockout round opponents was completed elsewhere.

Referee Laurent Duhamel picked Rooney and Aalborg captain Thomas Augustinussen out for a chat after their on-going feud threatened to boil over. However, Rooney was also the instigator of a cross-field pass that Steve Olfers nudged on to his own bar.

Tevez blasted a shot into the side-netting, with Rooney the architect once more. It was the last chance United created.