Manchester United 3 Olympiakos 0
Manchester United left it late but booked their place in the second phase of the Champions League with a 3-0 defeat of Greek side Olympiakos Piraeus at Old Trafford.
Goals in the final 11 minutes from substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy saw United home after they earlier missed a penalty and hit the post.
United manager Alex Ferguson had insisted before the match that it was vital his side beat the Greeks rather than wait until the final match in Lille to discover their fate.
And Olympiakos looked easy pickings, having drawn three and lost the rest of their 15 Champions League fixtures away from home in the last five years.
But their resolute play, and the help of the woodwork, held the United juggernaut for 79 minutes and the visitors even carved out the best chance of the first period.
Stylianos Giannakopoulos' long ball over the top caught the home defence square and Alexios Alexandris raced through with just Fabien Barthez to beat but saw the ball taken off his toes by Laurent Blanc.
United were awarded a penalty in the 62nd minute when David Beckham picked out Van Nistelrooy and he was fouled by Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos in the box, but saw his spot kick saved by the keeper.
Juan Sebastian Veron then fired a tremendous 30-yard free kick against the post, before Solskjaer entered the fray.
He latched onto a neat angled pass from the impressive Van Nistelrooy in the area and shot high into the roof of the net in the 79th.
With two minutes left Veron's excellent vision allowed Giggs to scamper through on goal and he nudged the ball home past the keeper for the second.
And with seconds left Van Nistelrooy scored from close range as he reacted quickly to Veron's cross.
He celebrated by taking his shirt off and throwing it on the ground by the penalty spot.