Daniel Taylor at Stade Gerland
Lyon 2 Manchester United 2
Ruud van Nistelrooy not only took one of Denis Law's scoring records here last night, he seemed intent on doing it in the very style of the man they called the King.
The Manchester United striker had been a peripheral influence on a game that was heavily tilted in Lyon's favour before two typically predatory goals, which took his total to 30 in Europe, spared his team a harrowing start to their Champions League campaign.
Alex Ferguson's players had been losing by two goals and were seemingly devoid of ideas until Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs swapped flanks in the second half and Van Nistelrooy, until that point watching from the edges, began to shimmer with menace.
His team-mates ought to be grateful because this would have been another galling evening had it not been for his desire to overhaul Law's record of 28 European goals.
Lyon have won Le Championnat three times in succession, and they showed exactly why from the start last night. The French attacked with early pace and purpose, and might have inflicted even greater punishment such was the encouragement they received to advance in the first half.
Tim Howard, in particular, will have to accept a good proportion of the blame after a dreadful error contributed to the first goal and Mikael Silvestre had another hugely disappointing performance at the heart of United's defence.
The widespread assumption that Wes Brown will make way when Rio Ferdinand's suspension expires on Monday might have to be revised in light of Silvestre's habit of making unforced errors. Even before Lyon took the lead the French defender looked vulnerable.
First he allowed the Brazilian centre-half Cacapa an unchallenged header from Juninho's corner and then he made a woeful pass that conceded possession just outside his own penalty area and Sylvain Wiltord set up Florent Malouda.
Howard came to the rescue on that occasion but 10 minutes before the interval he was horribly at fault as Lyon took the lead. Juninho was the outstanding player of the opening half but the free-kick he aimed towards Howard's goal should have been collected by the American goalkeeper with the modicum of fuss. It wasn't.
Howard, conspicuously below his best form for the opening part of the season, failed to gather the ball safely and it came back off his chest for Cris to prod in a soft goal. Howard may pay for that with his place when Liverpool visit Old Trafford on Monday.
However, fortuitous it was, Ferguson could hardly argue that the goal was undeserved. Only a minute earlier a Pierre Frau header had been cleared off the goal-line and, apart from a couple of early moments when Giggs and Eric Djemba-Djemba had hurried decent opportunities, it was an opening half of near-unremitting pressure from Lyon.
Lyon's second goal exposed more deficiencies in the United defence. Ferguson's team had actually been deep in the opposition half, searching for an equaliser, when the ball broke upfield. Wiltord, playing with verve, led the counter-attack all the way to the edge of the penalty area before slipping the ball into Frau's path for the striker to score with an accomplished finish.
From start to finish the move encapsulated how easily Lyon could fluster a United defence that had John O'Shea deputising for Gary Neville at right back. Quite what Phil Neville has done is a mystery but he is entitled to be bewildered, not least because he signed a new contract only two months ago. Even with a long list of absentees, Neville has made only one start this season. Here he came on for O'Shea with just seven minutes left.
Ferguson's selection might also have disappointed the nomadic Sven-Goran Eriksson, who took his place in the modern stands to find that Alan Smith had also been relegated to the bench and only two Englishmen starting - and one of those, Paul Scholes, has already withdrawn from national service.
Smith might have felt aggrieved after his impressive form but Van Nistelrooy, showing superb anticipation, could hardly have done more to justify his selection.
The Holland striker's first goal came after 56 minutes when he met Ronaldo's cross with a lovely, twisting header to squeeze the ball inside the far post and beyond the Lyon goalkeeper Gregory Coupet.
Suddenly the thrust of the game had reversed. For the first time United began to dominate and five minutes later they concocted another move into the Lyon penalty area. Ronaldo failed to hit his shot cleanly but the ball was deflected into Van Nistelrooy's path for the Dutchman to apply a smart finishing touch.
Impressive United comeback though it was, Lyon could have snatched the points with a late charge as Juninho missed an open goal and then hit the outside of Howard's post.
LYON:Coupet, Reveillere, Cris, Cacapa, Abidal, Wiltord (Clement 88), Essien, Juninho, Malouda, Govou (Ben Arfa 75), Frau (Nilmar 65). Subs not used: Puydebois, Diatta, Bergougnoux, Berthod. Booked: Cris. Goals: Cris 35, Frau 44.
MANCHESTER UTD:Howard, O'Shea (Phil Neville 83), Brown, Silvestre, Heinze, Ronaldo, Keane, Djemba-Djemba, Giggs, Scholes, van Nistelrooy (Smith 79). Subs not used: Carroll, Bellion, Kleberson, Richardson, Fletcher. Booked: Heinze. Goals: van Nistelrooy 56, 61.
Referee:Wolfgang Stark (Germany).