LOAN star Henrik Larsson bade farewell to Old Trafford with the goal that sealed United's passage into the last eight of the Champions League.
The Swedish striker, who is set to return to Helsingborg next Wednesday, headed home to ensure victory over Lille.
The Reds put in a lacklustre performance but when Cristiano Ronaldo was allowed to dribble down the left flank, he whipped in a ball that Larsson gratefully nodded in.
With Louis Saha out for four weeks with a hamstring strain and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sidelined until the end of the month following knee surgery, how tempted Sir Alex Ferguson must be to reverse his oft-stated pledge not to ask the 35-year-old to stay on.
Given Larsson will be in Manchester for the UEFA celebration game next Tuesday, at the very least Ferguson must be wondering whether it is worthwhile inviting him to remain for the crucial Premiership clash with Bolton the following Saturday.
The Scot will probably decide against, but in doing so, he will seriously weaken a side who lived in fear of Saha getting injured throughout the opening half of the campaign.
Problem
In fact, with injuries starting to mount, United suffered another major worry before the end as Mikael Silvestre was carried off on a stretcher with a serious-looking shoulder problem.
Saha’s current return date would rule him out of the first leg of United’s quarter-final and, on the evidence of this largely sterile affair, he will be missed.
After all the aggravation and bad blood that continued to boil since the stormy encounter at the Stade Felix-Bollaert a fortnight ago, the rivals served up a remarkably mundane opening period.
Aside from one seemingly accidental swinging Peter Odemwingie elbow that bloodied Nemanja Vidic’s nose midway through the half, there was hardly any of the excessive physicality that had been expected.
In fact, the only reminder of that amazing first leg came when Ronaldo jokingly attempted to take a quick free-kick after Larsson had been fouled 35 yards out.
Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo was quick to show both sides play would not be restarted without him blowing the whistle, decisive action his Dutch counterpart Eric Braamhaar would have saved himself so much grief if he had taken in France.
Not that Cantalejo was mistake-free, although at least he quickly corrected his error when he booked Matthieu Chalme for a late tackle on Ronaldo, having initially dished out the yellow card to Kader Keita.
Ronaldo was also cautioned before the opening period was through for diving under Chalme’s tackle inside the area. It certainly was not a penalty but given the Portugal winger’s unfortunate reputation for going to ground rather too easily, it was a harsh call since the defender had made some contact.
With Paul Scholes the most creative force on the field, it was no surprise United were the greater threat, although Wayne Rooney’s hopes of ending a two-and-a-half year Champions League goal drought only met with disappointment as he slammed a volley straight at Chalme.
Chance
The resulting corner brought United their best chance of the half though as Michael Carrick, handed the set piece duties as Ryan Giggs was left on the bench, drifted it to the far post, where O’Shea planted a header against the bar.
After his matchwinner against Liverpool at the weekend, it would have completed a remarkable five days for the Irishman, who, in the middle of a five-man midfield was the chief beneficiary of Giggs’ omission and managed to outshine most of his team-mates.
In fairness to Lille, they were a far more enterprising force in attack than they had been in any of the three previous meetings between the sides in the past two years.
And with Keita causing problems and Ludovik Obraniak swinging a series of excellent free-kicks from the touchline, the goal they craved was not completely out of the question.
Jean Makoun should certainly have done much more than bounce a header into Edwin van der Sar’s arms after he had sprung the United offside trap and met one of Obraniak’s teasing efforts.
However, it was after half-time the French side really threatened, with Odemwingie nodding against a post after some uncharacteristically poor defending from Vidic had created unease inside the home box.
It was the start of an uncomfortable period for United, who were stuck between pushing forward for a tie-clinching goal or preserving the status quo.
There appeared to have been no obvious resolution to the dilemma until Ronaldo embarked on his forceful burst and offered Larsson the chance to send United through.
It was Larsson’s third goal for the Red Devils and he was quick to acknowledge Ronaldo’s contribution. The United fans were quick to pay tribute to the Swede as he was replaced by Alan Smith shortly afterwards. The question is, will it be for the last time?
What is your verdict on the game? Have your say.
United 1 Lille 0 (United 2-0 on agg)
March 07, 2007
Comments
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You just know we are getting Bayern in the next leg.
Brilliant. This is our year.
Who cares who we get. We can beat them all. MUFCUM OK.
Another 1-0 win, credit to our defence. Too conservative display. Too many passes to VDS. Inter,Barca and Madrid are out .....let´s get PSV
I hope that United will do everything in their power to keep Ronaldo. I wish that SAF would ask Henrik to stay and pay his club whatever is decent. I hope that Rooney gets his confidence back soon, very soon. And I wish we get another whip like Keano next season.
A poor game but for once the result was all that mattered. The only bit of magic Ronnie managed all night & a super goal. Smudger had a nice cameo too, that turn & snapshot was a touch of class. Happy enough going into the draw Friday, just hope Saha isn't out for a month as reported. Resources are a little stretched as it is.
just got back regardless of what alias tmuf have to say that was utter tripe and was painful to watch.
Fantastic result, but I understand Fergie had us 4-5-1 again ( didn't see the game here). FFS will he never learn! It doesn't work Fergie, ditch it. Nice to see Larsson going out in style, shame he won't stay as we have real problems up front now with Saha out for a month and Ole out 2-3 weeks. And with Scholes out for the next 3, it's going to be a tough slog, but I think we can do it. Ronnie can play up front, with Giggs and Park out wide, or maybe Giggs in CM with Evra on the left? Anyone care to comment on Smudger's 15 minutes in the game? Anything to give us optimism there?
Anthony, do you subscribe to MUTV?
Colin. (Oakville)
Ok good performance, but why wasn't Gabriel Heinze in the starting line up?!!
Slow in the first half but improved in the 2nd. I cant believ the ref didnt give a pen. Contrary to want the report says, you cant kick an opponent in the penalty area and expect to not give away a penalty. To book him was ridiculous. Maybe we should appeal...!Glad to see the back of Lille. Not sure who I want to face in the draw. PSV would be the obvious choice but I wouldn't be too fazed about any side we played. Middlesborough will be a tough game and we will need a performance to remain in the competition. Oh and Ronaldo was brilliant for Larsson's goal, good luck Larsson, you've been great. Scored in the first and last games at OT, what a way to remain highly favoured amongst the fans.
well outstanding in most result,whats lille manager got to say now.
Totally brilliant result,who we get next who cares anyway bring them on.
henke thanks for your time i just wish you were staying at ot till the end of all the games and cl,thank's for all you have done.
LIlle suck on that and a good bye farewell,i hope that pill is the bitterest pill you have to swallow for a long time,and eufa banning you from the game of true teams.
Ronaldo well what can i say apart from ,we saw ronadinhio ,ronaldo is even better than him bt a mile the skill level was frightning from that boy still a mega star in the makeing.
All in all im smileing from ear to ear.
Bring on who ever now,as im confident utd will progess further and could i hope with all my heart go on to win the cl title.
Like liverpool did the other night the fans and i must say were amazing.
bring forth the guillotine.
French necks and hopes in tears.
come on the reds.
Utd forever........
The last handful of games have been dismal but the best teams have a knack of grinding out results even when playing badly. United's game has lost some of its lustre and my guess is that the toll of one pressure game after another is now beginning to show. United have been lucky to this point with injuries but now the lack of depth has been badly exposed. There's a touch of irony about John O'Shea's recent heroics and workmanlike contributions. Many, including me, might be tempted to forget all the past abuse of the lad and be stupid enough to think that he and KR can cover the sudden unavailablity of OGS, PS, PE, HL and LS....but it ain't gonna happen. I think we're in trouble. We've suddenly become a little toothless going forward and, as much as I admire Alan Smith, I can't see him providing anywhere near the required offensive threat......at least not just yet. He'll need games and lot's of them before he'll be sharp enough for this time of the season. If that wasn't bad enough, Vidic now looks as if he's started to get the colly-wobbles. Bellamy gave him a torrid time on saturday and he looked unchacteristically shaky against Lille. I worry about being vulnerable against Middlesborough even with Giggs rested for the Lille game (smart move by SAF). It's always tough to regain focus after a CL game but it'll be more especially difficult with so many enforced line-up changes. Testing times indeed.
the red machine just keeps on rolling on. Injuries have started to take their toll, but after seeing Smith's little cameo last night, i'm a little bit more reassured. He showed some nice touches, and having him back right now is a huge relief. I think we should be ok with just rooney and smith for the next month or so, then hopefully we'll have saha and ole back. Failing that, the 451 system we played last night could be the way we get around our current injury problems. On the result, what a goal by larsson. And trust ronaldo to come up with the goods again. Nice also to see 3 british teams in the last 8, with some of the so called big 'spanish' clubs failing to get through again.
Yeah yeah we're through but what a load of rubbish. Carlos and SAF have to take the blame because most of their players give the impresion that they don't know what to do with the ball at their feet because they DON'T know what to do. No movement, stupid and poor passing, no ideas, no gameplan, no strategy: bloody awful! Poor, poor JOS, he has absolutely no idea of what to do in midfield, he should never, ever have to go through the public humiliation of having to play in midfield at any level anywhere on this planet again! You can see him putting in maximum concentration trying not to fluff a 3 yard back pass to a defender, his positioning is clueless etc, Please, please put him out of his misery and never ask him to play in midfield again. KR and Park were brought on and had no idea what they were supposed to do apart from making up the numbers. There are serious problems that we have seen in previous seasons and they have to be sorted now if we want to get anywhere. What is the point of playing Roo out wide??? Another clueless, miserable performance that was saved once again by the sublime skill of our only football player, Cristiano Ronaldo. And don't give that great goal by Henke rubbish, my arthiritic blind donkey could have scored that one!
I am now getting quite concerned at our form. Last night we were dreadful and the formation was an utter mess, we looked totally disjointed.
Scholes played too far up and without him running the midfield we couldn't pass the condiments, and what's all this long ball stuff up to a 5'-8" striker? What's happened to Wayne? He's looking like a £30 player not a 30 million pound player. Larssson took his goal well but achieved little apart from that.
So many players were poor. Winning is great but it can't hide the fact that we are struggling at present and be warned, luck doesn't last forever!
No one can deny Smith a run in the side now. Bolton & Blackburn, with us on this form, are looking a real threat. We somehow need to get through the next few weeks until Scholes, Saha & Co are back in the fold.
Great to progress after last years disappointment. Game was a bit of a damp squid after all the goings on in the away game. Great to see Celtic go out, now lets all get down to Shameside for the Squires Gate game.
Yet again did not control the game at home as I expected; gave too much space for opponents to play that could have hurt us. But won and I cannot complain. Let's pray we do not meet and English team or PSV in the quarter finals.
Now if we do not have fit strikers, it is foolish to allow Larsson to go back. Saha is as usual not dependable in terms of fitness, OGS is out and Rooney seems to be injured too. Smith has just come back. Is Fergie serious about getting the premiership and going on in Europe and the FA when he has no strikers? That is wishful thinking and failure to keep Larsson could return to haunt us. I expect to hear Larsson will be staying by Sunday. And I am dead serious.
I would like people to understand why i dont care about the CL when i watch us playing boring football. It is easy to blame the tactic but we have to say that all season up to now Rooney has been a passenger. Oshea and Carrick in midfield just spent times and times again either giving the ball away or make a back pass. Sylvestre was just a joke. Now we have to deal with injuries to some key players.I mainly want to see Smith giving his chance than disrupting the whole setup of the team by playing players out of position (ie: Giggs on top, Rooney main forward...). My team for the next league game as i dont take a great deal with the FA cup will be: VDS-Nev,Rio,Vidic(we need your form back),Evra-Ronaldo,Carrick,Giggs,Park-Rooney,Smith(Dong)
There must be better players in the reserves than Richardson as he is the only player in the world who can change the game negatively in a couple of minutes on the pitch.
God we were awful again, let's see Fergie's tactical genius we are at home needing a goal to effectively end the tie so let's play players out of position and play 4-5-1 which ended any chance of exciting attacking football. All i saw us doing except a 5min spell was pass the ball backwards or lump it forward to an isolated Larrson, terrible to watch and just invited them on, we had a packed midfield yet they had more shots on goal than us at home, pathetic, if our displays dont improve we are in serious trouble of ending the season empty handed, I dont think any of the big teams left will fear coming to OT on current form and I'm a bit worried in the next stage if we persist with said tactics(it's fated we get Bayern).Team wise except for scholes, o'shea Ronaldo and the centre backs we were pretty awful, added to our growing injuries and form we really are scrapping by, and saha injured again that's the third time this season so I seriously think we should add another striker making 3, plus a covering RB,LW and two midfielders to our growing shopping list, here's hoping.
How may more times can we trot out the cliche about winning games while playing badly before we get a massive wake-up call? I thought we'd turned the corner in the second-half against Liverpool. I thought wrong. Hopefully we hit rock bottom last night, because i don't think it's possible to play worse. It was almost as though the players were in a competition for who could have the worst first touch, or who could pass to a Lille player the most often. Shocking performances all round. I fully expect us to lose to Boro at the weekend. And I almost hope we do. Firstly, to reduce the number of games out threadbare squad will have to play but mainly to give the team a massive kick up the backside in case they start to think that the type of display they've been putting on really is good enough to win trophies. Great result by the way. And it was sweet to see l'Arse end their season prematurely. But please, enough dross. That's almost 6 hours of soul-destroying football I've sat through, for about 30 minutes excitement. Simply not good enough.
I have a horrible feeling Liverpool will win the Champions League again this year. Can't see it being us after last night's game.
Clearly a bitter author: "Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo was quick to show both sides play would not be restarted without him blowing the whistle, decisive action his Dutch counterpart Eric Braamhaar would have saved himself so much grief if he had taken in France." For the last time - there was NOTHING wrong with the referee's decision to let Giggs take the free kick early in the first leg! It was legal, it was fair, it was fine and dandy!
Those of you hoping we get a supposedly weaker club in the next round (PSV?! They just put out Arsenal, the team that has beaten us twice this season, or did you not notice?) clearly have not committed our CL results and fixtures of recent seasons to memory. It is almost undeniably clear that we play better against top teams, where the pressure is on, and less well against the lesser lights. Hence defeats to Lille last year, Copenhagen, Celtic etc. We've had an easy ride as far as the draw is concerned over the last four or five seasons - which, incidentally, coincides with our poorest period of performances. So I am hoping we get a tough draw for the QFs. Bayern would be perfect.
I'm delighted we're through but it's hard to see us winning anything playing like this.
Yes we won, but I don't think anyone will be quaking in their boots about meeting us, we didn't exactly set the world on fire with this display or indeed in any of our last four or five games. With injuries and suspensions coming up, I hope it doesn't all go pear shaped for us.
Let's show a bit more grit and determination in our play. At the minute only the back four are playing with any real determination. Let's get Rooney back in his best position just behind the striker, and now is the time for Alan Smith to come in. He showed in flashes what he can do against Lille. He acted as a target man, held the ball up well and linked up play. It's time for Giggs and Ronaldo to step up and produce the goods, less showboating, more end product. Central midfield it's time Carrick started taking games by the scruff of the neck and now is his chance with Scholes out for three games. So come United let's get back on track and kick some butt.