Manchester United progressed to the quarter final stage of the Champions League with a less than convincing 1-0 victory on the night and 2-1 on aggregate over French outfit Lyon.

A surprisingly lacklustre performance seemed to have been redeemed when Ronaldo scored just before the break but instead of settling the nerves it was the current leaders of Ligue 1 who caused United problems in the second period.

Casual defending and a tendency to give possession away too easily allowed Lyon back into the game and when substitute Kader Keita crashed a shot against the post with twenty minutes remaining it seemed as if they might grab an equaliser.

But with Lyon committed to attack United had three or four late opportunities to seal the game but poor finishing summed up their disjointed display.

On a positive note this was United's tenth consecutive home win in the Champions League a record they now share with Juventus.

Reds boss Sir Alex Ferguson felt it was a typical European game and whilst praising the opposition he claimed the majority of the chances fell to his team.

"Our second half performance left us on a knife edge at times but the important thing was we were defending well.

"Really apart from the shot from Keita I don't think they really made a chance.

"It was a good European football match with a good flow; end to end at times.

But really the big opportunities fell to us. It's a pity we couldn't put the game to bed earlier."