OL - Manchester United

Karim Benzema's superb individual effort in the 54th minute had looked like giving the Ligue 1 side victory, but Tevez displayed the Premier League champions' absolute refusal to accept defeat by netting late on.

The Argentinian, on as a 65th minute replacement, fired into the roof of the net after Brazilian Fred failed to clear Nani's cross into the Lyon danger area, making United firm favourites to progress into the quarter-finals when the two sides meet again at Old Trafford in a fortnight's time.

But it far from plain sailing for the visitors, who were close to falling to their first ever defeat to the French side after Benzema, reportedly a United target, put the hosts ahead after the break.
United boss Alex Ferguson has admitted his admiration for the 20 year and his performance at the Stade Gerland will have done nothing to dampen any interest that may exist.
After a quiet first half, Benzema exploded into life after the break, finding the bottom corner from the edge of the box with a crisp low drive, despite being surrounded by a posse of red shirts.

The goal was harsh on United who up until that point had accomplished their mission, containing Lyon during the first half and coming out for the second in determined mood to find an opener.

With Lyon playing a 4-3-3 formation, Ferguson opted to start with just Wayne Rooney up front on his own, leaving Tevez on the bench and going with a three-man midfield of Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes and Anderson. Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs, who was making his 100th European appearance, supported Rooney up front.
The best chance of the first half fell to Rooney on 25 minutes when he latched onto Giggs's through ball only for Gregory Coupet to race off his line and deny the England international as he tried to dink the ball over the keeper's body.
Scholes had earlier been denied a shot on target by a great saving tackle from Jean-Alain Boumsong before Ronaldo headed over the bar from a corner as the opening period neared a conclusion.
For the hosts, Benzema had been kept relatively quiet by the defensive pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic for the first 45 minutes. He gave United just a glimpse of what he is capable of early on, when he blazed over the bar with a first time effort from the edge of the box, but the visitors would see more of his talent later on.

But other than that, the hosts were limited to pop shots from distance and occasional free-kicks from the man they call Monsieur 50-50, for his apparent strike rate from dead balls, but a more apt moniker for Juninho on the night would have included less evenly matched digits.
United roared out of the blocks after the break, only for Benzema's stunning strike to deliver a real body blow.
They wavered slightly but, true to their never say die character, Ferguson's side slowly came back into the game, Rooney had a goal disallowed for offside and Ronaldo brought a decent save out of Coupet from a dead ball, before Tevez pounced to put them firmly in the driving seat.