Carlos Tévez boosted Manchester United’s hopes of a place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a late equaliser against Lyons at the Stade de Gerland last night. United were trailing to Karim Benzema’s 54th-minute strike when Tévez combined with Nani, a fellow substitute, to draw Sir Alex Ferguson’s team level with three minutes remaining.

With an away goal to their name, the Barclays Premier League champions will be firm favourites to qualify when Lyons visit Old Trafford for the return leg in a fortnight, but their satisfaction was diluted by a pre-match incident in which Lyons fans shone a laser in the eyes of Cristiano Ronaldo.

United reported the matter to Uefa and the European governing body is expected to investigate further today. “We reported it before the game,” Ferguson said. “I noticed it in the warm-up and I think Uefa tried to deal with it. I’m not sure what happened but I know they were aware of it. I didn’t notice it .”

The United manager was relieved to have claimed a valuable draw. “We are absolutely delighted because you are never sure if you are going to get that late goal in European football,” he said. “It gives us a good opportunity to qualify. It was a setback to concede a goal because at that moment we were in control.”

Arsène Wenger blamed an attack of nerves for Arsenal’s goalless draw with AC Milan at the Emirates Stadium but insisted his young side can recover to reach the last eight. His team will travel as underdogs and will have to make history in the San Siro if they are to eliminate the European champions, as no English team have beaten Milan on their own ground in the competition.

Arsenal’s frustration was encapsulated by Emmanuel Adebayor, who headed against the bar from a yard out in injury time. A dispiriting evening was completed by confirmation that Kolo Touré will be out for a month with a calf injury. The defender hobbled off after seven minutes.

“We didn’t take advantage of the chances we created because we were a bit nervous in the final third, a bit too forceful, and they defended with a lot of experience,” Wenger said. “They adapted to the situation in thinking they would be under pressure and had to defend well. It was not only the Adebayor chance, we had plenty of chances.”

The Arsenal manager is concerned that the state of the San Siro pitch will inhibit Arsenal’s flowing football, but is confident that his young players can rise to the challenge. “I feel we can play at a high tempo for 90 minutes because they will have to come out in the second leg,” Wenger said.

“Unfortunately we can’t take our pitch to San Siro. It won’t be of the same quality and our game may suffer from that.”

Celtic briefly seemed capable of providing a huge shock when they twice took the lead at home to Barcelona, before Lionel Messi’s second goal of the match earned the Spanish giants a 3-2 victory.