Cristiano Ronaldo's 30th goal of the season gave
Manchester United a 2-1 aggregate win over Lyon and a place in the
Champions League quarter-finals.
Lyon's tactic of defending in numbers frustrated the home side
early on.
But Ronaldo broke the deadlock when he pounced on a loose ball
in the box and squeezed the ball past Gregory Coupet.
Lyon came forward more after the break and almost levelled when
Kader Keita's shot thumped against the base of the post but United
held on to progress. <!-- E SF -->
It was by no means United's most stylish victory in Europe but
their manager Sir Alex Ferguson will not mind one bit after seeing
his side equal Juventus' Champions League record of 10 straight
home wins.
The pace of Ronaldo and Nani on either wing always looked their
most likely route of finding a way through the visitors'
well-organised defence and brought them the best early
openings.
First Ronaldo broke down the right and left Fabio Grosso sliding
in his wake but he failed to pull the ball back in time and was
crowded out inside the area.
Darren Fletcher saw a swerving 25-yard shot fly just wide before
Anderson linked up well with Nani but failed to make his final ball
count.
United were not having things all their own way, however, and
Lyon responded with a spell of pressure of their own that saw Kim
Kallstrom test Edwin van der Sar with a rasping drive.
It looked like the stalemate would extend until half-time but
Ronaldo had other ideas.
Nani fed Wes Brown down the right and although Anderson's shot
from his cross was blocked, Ronaldo was first to the loose ball and
expertly slotted the ball between the onrushing keeper Coupet and
the post.
That goal put United firmly in the driving seat but Lyon, to
their credit, came back strongly after the interval.
Initially, Alain Perrin's side failed to test Van der Sar
further with Juninho's shot drifting well wide and Hatem Ben Arfa
drilling another effort over.
But the visitors went close to making it 2-2 on aggregate when
Keita found the space to smash his low shot against the woodwork
with the keeper beaten.
United survived that scare and should have extended their margin
of victory before the end.
Rooney latched on to a poor Ben Arfa back-pass but was denied by
Coupet's block - then wasted another golden chance when substitute
Carlos Tevez put him clear.
