THE TIMES
Of all the French words uttered in anger over the course of the past fortnight, the only one that came to mind last night was encore. Certainly it had been a fitting swansong at Old Trafford for Henrik Larsson, but, in settling an acrimonious tie with a moment of rare class, the veteran forward left Manchester United's supporters crying for more — and crying in vain.
Larsson's ten weeks in Manchester have not been quite the glorious visitation that some might have you believe — this was only his third goal in 12 appearances — but his contribution has been vital in keeping United on track during the most difficult period of their season. It was epitomised last night with the 72nd-minute goal that ended Lille's resistance and their misplaced sense of injustice, but, while more straightforward individuals might be coaxed into prolonging their curtain call, Larsson was adamant as, shivering under the Stretford End an hour after the final whistle, he said: "I'm going home on Sunday and that's it."
Credit to him, then. Credit to a rare example of a footballer whose sense of loyalty, to both Helsingborg, his Swedish club, and to his family, outweighs even his sense of ambition. It is the 35-year-old's attitude, as much as his talent, that has so endeared him to Sir Alex Ferguson, but now, with Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer injured and Wayne Rooney remaining a long way from his best, it is Larsson's famed predatory instinct that promises to be the greater loss to United with the season approaching its tipping points.
It was Larsson's goal, a fine header from Cristiano Ronaldo's cross, that finally saw off a Lille team whose exit from the competition will not be mourned. The French club invited only ridicule with their outraged reaction to Ryan Giggs's perfectly legitimate winning goal in the first leg and, if Claude Puel's youngsters avoided embarrassment last night with a typically robust display, the only moments of class over the course of an ugly tie came from United — and specifically from Giggs and Larsson, who, with Rooney continuing to flounder, have offered timely reminders that there is no substitute for experience in this competition.
This time, Giggs spent the evening on the bench, a move that, given how Lille's players had accused him of cheating in the first leg, had some wondering whether this was an unlikely concession to diplomacy on Ferguson's part. Not so, according to the United manager, who later explained that he simply preferred the more muscular John O'Shea against such physical opponents.
There was an obvious loss of poise, with the Ireland player one of several in the United team who looked heavy-legged, but, in the context of the result, O'Shea could certainly claim to have done everything asked of him.
Without Giggs, laughably miscast by Lille as the villain of the piece, there was perhaps a little less of the rancour that had been evident in the build-up, but it still required all the experience of the referee, Luis Medina Cantalejo, to keep emotions in check during the first half. Six players were booked in all — most notably Ronaldo for what was perceived as a dive when he felt he should have had a penalty — but only once did the Spanish official threaten to lose control, when he mistakenly showed an incandescent Kader Keita the yellow card in the 36th minute before realising his error and booking Matthieu Chalmé instead for a foul on Ronaldo.
That was about as compelling as the action got in a strange first half, in which United's best effort, a volley by Rooney from Paul Scholes's clever cross, was blocked by Chalmé. Lille, at the other end, offered relatively little, save for the willing athleticism of Peter Odemwingie, but their only real opportunities came from the dead-ball delivery of Ludovic Obraniak. One such free kick provided Jean Makoun with a free header, which he directed straight at Edwin van der Sar. Two minutes into the second half, another free kick by Obraniak reached Odemwingie, who got to the ball before Van der Sar and sent a header against the post as the Stretford End took a collective gasp.
THE TELEGRAPH
As anyone who has bought furniture from Ikea could testify, the Swedes are big on symmetry. Having begun his brief career at Manchester United with a goal, Henrik Larsson said farewell to Old Trafford as a United player with another.
He is due to be back by the Baltic in his home town of Helsingborg when United play their first Champions League quarter-final in four years and, although it would be stretching a point to say his header put them there, it did put an end to the tension that swirled around the stadium.
It was not that it ever appeared likely that United would be eliminated but it seemed scarcely credible that once more they should have performed so badly and won, finishing the game with 10 men when Mikael Silvestre was carried off on a stretcher.
Sir Alex Ferguson had promised that the Lille supporters would be better treated than United's had been at the ageing, fenced-in Felix-Bollaert Stadium. They were not baton-charged nor tear-gassed by Greater Manchester police, although they did have to cope with vans offering "foot-long hot-dogs" for £2.50.
The match was, however, the same bitty, uneven fare that had been on offer in the first leg, as unsatisfying and instantly forgettable as any Pot Noodle.
It would be wrong to say Ferguson has ever done diplomacy, his programme notes attacked Lille for "virtually accusing us of cheating" by their protests in France,but Ryan Giggs, the man who triggered all the controversy with his fateful, quickly taken free-kick, began the night on the bench. Perhaps, under the circumstances, it was just as well.
United's eagerly anticipated first free-kick was taken slowly and deliberately and produced absolutely no threat to Tony Sylva's goal. For those seeking more controversy, Cristiano Ronaldo was booked for diving when he seemed to be brought down in the area by Matthieu Chalme, while Kader Keita launched a furious, theatrical protest when he thought he was being wrongly cautioned for a tackle on Ronaldo. As a case of mistaken identity, it took some doing since Chalme, who was eventually shown the yellow card, is white and Keita is black.
Otherwise there was an uneasy peace over Old Trafford, broken only by errors from United's strangely uncertain defence, which facing perhaps the weakest forward line left in the Champions League, seldom appeared comfortable.
Claude Puel's tactics were as delicately balanced as they needed to be. The Lille manager simply did not possess the resources to take on United in an open contest. On Lille's last visit, that had enraged Ferguson because of the overly defensive nature of their play and they had forced a goalless draw against a side reduced to 10 men. This time they required roughly the same strategy but with a sharper edge. Twice, Peter Odemwingie might have broken through, directing one free header into the arms of Edwin van der Sar, then sending another trickling on to a post.
United could have wrecked Puel's plans with a single goal but for so much of the match they were as horribly incoherent as they had been in recent games at Craven Cottage and Anfield. Had John O'Shea, stretching backwards to meet Michael Carrick's corner, not directed his header against the crossbar, they would smashed their way through to the quarter-finals before 20 minutes were up. As it was, there were 72 minutes on the scoreboard when Larsson showed Lille how to convert a free header. The relief was more palpable than anyone anticipating this contest might have imagined.
THE GUARDIAN
There has been a debate among Manchester United followers as to the effectiveness of Henrik Larsson since the 35-year-old Swede plumped for an English sabbatical at Old Trafford in January. A degree of scepticism has shaped that argument, but Larsson skewed future memories favourably in his direction last night when he rose to nod in the 72nd-minute goal that takes United into their first Champions League quarter-final for four years.
It was by no means an unforgettable strike but it was the high point of an otherwise forgettable game and its significance will increase the longer United stay in the competition. However, that cannot be guaranteed if they replicate some of the sluggishness on display against a Lille team that is tenacious but far from electric.
That is Larsson's concern no more. After Saturday's FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough, Larsson will be present here for the Uefa charity match next Tuesday, but then he is gone, back to Helsingborgs.
Sir Alex Ferguson said "forget that" on Tuesday when asked if he might be able to delay the process by which Larsson returns and Ferguson reiterated the impossibility of that last night. "Helsingborgs have their priorities," Ferguson said, "and Henrik has promised that to them. He's got his family, too, there's no point in going on about it. I've spoken to the man and he's going back. That, unfortunately, is that."
Ferguson is one who does not doubt the Larsson effect. This was the Swede's ninth start in his loan spell and his decisive header, from a sublime run and cross from Cristiano Ronaldo, was his third goal and his last competitive touch in the red shirt at Old Trafford.
Considering the verbal butting that has gone on since the first leg, this turned out to be grudge match missing a grudge. Peter Odemwingie bloodied the nose of Nemanja Vidic but that was 27 minutes in. Shortly before that Jean Makoun wasted a promising headed chance and there was then a comedy moment when Scholes attempted to take a quick free-kick in the style of Ryan Giggs. The stadium laughed as Lille flapped.
But the ground fell quiet at the start of the second half. Lille had to score, of course, and Odemwingie came closest just two minutes in with a miscued header that fooled Edwin van der Sar and struck a post.
An away goal then and the whole occasion would have been changed. As it was Gary Neville and Rooney were merely two of the United players with arms outstretched in pleading frustration as their passing game disintegrated.
It is at times like that when personal inspiration is necessary. Larsson provided it, spinning on to a short pass, finding Scholes, who switched the ball out to Ronaldo. Booked earlier for an apparent dive, Ronaldo burst past his marker, reached the byline and sent in a come-hither cross. Larsson's forehead did the rest. A sweet finish.
THE INDIE
It was a night for authority, a brusque Manchester United statement of contempt for what had happened in northern France two weeks before - and some mighty assertion of their right to a return to a pivotal stage of the Champions League after last season's humiliating denouement against this less than daunting Lille.
Unfortunately United are not doing authority with any great spontaneity at the moment, and nor did it help that their most consistent player, Paul Scholes, was operating under the shadow of a disastrously timed three-game suspension.
Worst of all, though, for much of the night, was the parody of a serious performance from the virtuoso who is supposed to be just about single-handedly returning United to the stars. Cristiano Ronaldo has been described as the surging favourite for player of the year. He is said to be on his way to defining football stardom in the 21st century. Last night, when he wasn't producing the odd flash of thoroughbred class, he was defining almost everything that is currently going wrong with the Premiership league leaders. Everything, that is, except rescuing results which maintain the promise of sensational reinstatement at the top of English football.
If Ronaldo had been any more exasperating, or profligate, even his proud and indulgent mentor Sir Alex Ferguson might have been inclined to withdraw him from the action, if only for the good of his character. However, that he didn't, as probably is always likely to be the case when such extraordinary natural ability is part of the equation, is the key to United's latest redemption from quite dismal performance.
The boy wonder had exhausted his supply of step-overs and other random fripperies when he settled on a moment of sweet, even beautiful football simplicity in the 71st minute. It was his dazzling justification for a night that promised to be a monument to wasted ability and shocking football ego. There would be more of that after he made the night - and United's place in the quarter-finals - safe but by then he was a hero again.
Gone was the fleeting shame of another outrageous dive, this time rewarded with a yellow card by the Spanish referee, Luis Cantalejo... gone, too, the sense that he was involved in an adventure of self-advertisement all of his own.
Ronaldo was eventually called off the field but then, unlike his partner in the long walk, Wayne Rooney, he was again a hero on the rise. His perfectly controlled run along the left, after picking the ball up 10 yards into the Lille half, ended with a sumptuous cross into the path of Henrik Larsson. That was enough to break the will of a Lille team who had showed some moments of aggression but had never put United under the kind of pressure that a team is entitled to encounter at this point in the greatest club tournament in football.