A small minority of hooligans were to blame for the violence which marred the UEFA Cup final in Manchester, according to police and council chiefs.

Hundreds of Rangers fans went on the rampage when a big screen showing the match in the city's Piccadilly Gardens failed to work just before kick-off.

Fifteen officers were injured, as well as a police dog, and 42 arrests were made as hundreds of riot police and supporters fought running battles.

One fan of Rangers' Russian opponents, Zenit St Petersburg, was stabbed but his injuries were not life-threatening.

The match commander, Assistant Chief Constable Justine Curran, said the response of her officers was "appropriate".

She said: "It was challenging and we were stretched. Our officers did come under a degree of violent attacks. I am happy we responded appropriately. We could not let those minor disturbances affect the day for everybody.

"I am satisfied our reaction was appropriate. I watched the scenes in Piccadilly Gardens from the control room. I saw officers chased down a street by a baying mob of around 200 people. We had to do something."

The screen that failed was one of eight mounted in the city to accommodate more than 100,000 ticketless fans who descended from Glasgow.

Council leader Sir Richard Leese said the screen went blank 15 minutes before the 7.45pm kick-off but had been working throughout the day.

Around 11,000 fans were transported by shuttle bus to an alternative screen set up rapidly at the Velodrome near the City of Manchester of Stadium - but a group of supporters stayed and vented their fury at the police.

Sir Richard said: "We are clearly disappointed that a great night was soured by a number of small people.

"We had an unprecedented number of people come to Manchester, between 100,000 and 150,0000 people. It is the biggest movement of that size for an event of this nature.

"For most of the day and in most parts of the city we had a carnival atmosphere. Most people were good humoured who were a credit to their city.

"Whether it was the big screen going down or a problem with alcohol the behaviour of this small minority of yobs was not acceptable.

"If you are going to put the blame on anyone then it has to be on these people."

A relaxed attitude to fans' drinking in the street - normally outlawed - was adopted as supporters consumed alcohol from breakfast onwards.

Sir Richard added: "Do you really think we were going to stop 100,000-plus Glaswegians wanting to have a drink? It was not possible.

"Trying to enforce that would have created a public order problem."

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond today called for a wide-ranging inquiry into the clashes, and denounced the behaviour of "a small minority of fans" as "completely unacceptable".

He was speaking at First Minister's Questions where Labour leader Wendy Alexander called for an inquiry by Greater Manchester Police, Manchester City Council, Glasgow City Council, Strathclyde Police, and Rangers security.

Mr Salmond told MSPs: "The council have announced an inquiry this morning.

"I understand that initially at least it's quite limited in its scope, looking in particular to the circumstances of the equipment breakdown.

"I would think that the inquiry should be wider in its scope - there are a number of other aspects to inquire into."

He went on: "Certainly we will give full co-operation on all the matters under our responsibility to such an inquiry."

Sporting Life / Eurosport