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?

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