Man Utd 1
Ronaldo 41
Lyon 0
Manchester United 1 Lyon 0 (2-1 agg) March 04 2008
Cristiano Ronaldo once again proved his worth by grabbing the winner against Lyon as Manchester United set another UEFA Champions League milestone.
The winger steered the Old Trafford club to a tenth straight home win in the competition, equalling Serie A outfit Juventus' record set eleven years ago.
Ronaldo struck shortly before half-time to break Lyon's resistance and secure the Red Devils' place in the quarter-finals.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side were highly motivated from the off and Patrice Evra let his enthusiasm get the better of him when he picked up a booking on four minutes for a rash challenge on wonderkid Karim Benzema.
United made a swift break in the tenth minute and there was a buzz of anticipation around the ground as Ronaldo collected the ball in midfield. The Portugal winger cut inside only to see his effort blocked by the impressive Cris.
Anderson then looked to play Evra in behind the defence, only for Francois Clerc to read the situation well and clear the danger.
Benzema then created an opening at the other end, but his shot from 25 yards out flew harmlessly over the top of the bar.
Ronaldo weighed up a free-kick but scuffed his effort. The ball broke to Wayne Rooney but he too failed to find the target from inside the penalty area.
Clerc then broke down the wing and whipped in a cross from the right after 27 minutes, but Edwin van der Sar was on hand to take cleanly.
Two minutes later the Dutch goalkeeper had to look alert to parry Kim Kallstrom's rasping effort as the French visitors suddenly stepped up the pace.
Lyon were beginning to knock the ball around and the home fans were getting anxious as their side had failed to take the opportunities handed to them.
Evra then latched on to a good through ball from the lively Ronaldo and delivered a cross into the box. Goalkeeper Gregory Coupet got there ahead of Darren Fletcher only to be clattered by the Scottish midfielder and earn a free-kick.
United made the breakthrough to go 2-1 ahead on aggregate thanks to Ronaldo's 30th goal of the season in all competitions.
Nani started the move and sent Wes Brown clear on the right. He found Anderson, whose effort was blocked. The ball then broke to Ronaldo, who beat Coupet at the near post.
Lyon were anxious to get back in the game and a minute later Juninho tried his luck from distance but failed to test van der Sar.
Juninho has carved out a reputation as something of a dead-ball specialist and he was not afraid to try his luck from all of 30 yards in the 58th minute.
But he was left frustrated as Ronaldo showed his defensive side by heading the free-kick away from the danger zone.
Lyon, however, launched a swift counter-attack in the 66th minute with United almost paying for their carelessness.
Benzema got away and released Clerc but the move broke down when he delivered a weak cross.
Ferguson then brought on Carlos Tevez for Anderson in the 71st minute in a bid to extend their lead.
Rooney tried to release the Argentine striker with a cross only to see it blocked before Lyon almost grabbed the equaliser.
Substitute Kader Keita showed good pace in the 74th minute but saw his shot come back off the post in unlucky circumstances.
United hit back and Rooney should have scored following a poor back pass from Hatem Ben Arfa only for Coupet to block his chip in expert fashion.
Rooney was again out of luck in the 87th minute with Lyon stretched as they went in search of the equaliser, but the result was secured by this point and United marched on to seal a quarter-final berth.