with goals coming from Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo (2). United sealed their place in the knockout stage with a 4–0 win in the return game against Dynamo Kyiv, with goals from Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, while Gerard Piqué got his first ever senior goal for the club. The team went into the next game against Sporting knowing that a win would secure top spot for them. However, they went 1–0 down after just 21 minutes through an unexpected goal from Abel Ferreira. It took United another 40 minutes to get an equaliser, as Carlos Tevez scored a scrappy goal in the 61st minute. Just when it looked like United were about to settle for a draw, they won a free kick in the 92nd minute. Up stepped Cristiano Ronaldo, who lashed the free kick into the far top corner of the net to win the match 2–1. That left the final game in the group without consequence, and so Sir Alex took a youthful squad with him to Rome, including six players yet to make their senior debuts for the club. Although none of the six made the starting line-up, it was another of United's youth players, Piqué, who scored the opening goal in the 34th minute. However, the Reds were denied maximum points from the group stage by a 71st-minute goal from Mancini. Nevertheless, the 16 points they did pick up in the six games was the most of any team in the group stage. Knockout phase The first knockout round draw took place on 21 December, and paired Manchester United with Lyon of France. The last (and only) time United were paired with Lyon was in the group stage of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, in which the away tie finished as a 2–2 draw, while United won the home leg 2–1. The away leg was played on 20 February, and saw Lyon go 1–0 up in the 54th minute, through a Karim Benzema shot that went in off the post. Carlos Tevez rectified the situation in the 87th minute, pulling United level to make sure that the Red Devils were in half-decent shape for the return leg on 4 March. Manchester United started the second leg brightly, probing the Lyon defence for gaps, but to no avail as Lyon gradually fought their way back into the game, knowing they had to