If the FA Cup victory over Arsenal at the weekend demonstrated the balletic beauty of Manchester United, their battling qualities were to the fore at the Stade de Gerland last night as Sir Alex Ferguson’s team came from behind to claim a crucial late equaliser against Lyons.

Having taken the lead through the imperious Karim Benzema, the French champions looked like holding on for a memorable victory, but with only three minutes remaining, Carlos Tévez, a substitute, popped up to score an equaliser that completely altered the complexion of the tie.

With an away goal, United will be firm favourites to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League when they welcome Lyons to Old Trafford in just under a fortnight’s time, but Ferguson and his players will have their hands full.

The Barclays Premier League champions were given a thorough examination by Lyons, but on a night when they were frustrated for long spells by a team who got their tactics spot on, it was United’s perseverance, as opposed to their other vaunted qualities, that paid off.

When Michael Carrick’s shot was blocked, moments after Cristiano Ronaldo had had a free kick tipped aside, United’s best chance appeared to have gone begging. But two substitutes combined for what was probably a deserved equaliser. Nani launched the ball back into a chaotic goalmouth and Tévez, the Argentina forward, found enough space to stab it into the roof of the net.

Up until then, Lyons had excelled at closing down the space and hurrying United into mistakes, but while it was a great collective team effort, Benzema, who was outstanding right up until his substitution four minutes before Tévez’s intervention, deserved special mention.

It is not hard to see why Ferguson covets the highly rated France forward, or why Jean-Michel Aulas, the Lyons president, has put a £42 million price tag on the 20-year-old. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have rarely had such a torrid time of it.

Everything had clicked nicely in to place against Arsenal, but as good as United were, Arsène Wenger’s team were simply asking for trouble. Lyons were never going to roll over in such meek fashion.

It is one of the harsh realities of life at United that Nani, Darren Fletcher and Carrick should find themselves relegated to the substitutes’ bench. All three had been outstanding against Arsenal, but when players of the calibre of Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves lie in wait, Ferguson can hardly be blamed for ringing the changes.

They did not have quite the desired effect, though, and it was only with the introduction of Nani and Tévez that United upped their tempo.

United’s main threat before then had come from Giggs. The Welshman joined that select band of players who have made 100 Champions League appearances and he seemed determined to live up to the occasion.

Giggs’s best moment came in the 25th minute, when he delivered a deft ball with the outside of his trusted left boot into the path of Wayne Rooney, but having given Jean-Alain Boumsong the slip, the England forward elected to chip Grégory Coupet and was thwarted.

Coupet did well whenever he was called upon, although Lyons had a couple of chances either side of Benzema’s stunning 54th-minute strike. Sidney Govou had an effort blocked and Ferdinand nearly sliced the ball into his own goal from Jérémy Toulalan, before Benzema had Edwin van der Sar diving low to his right.

Some Lyons supporters had attempted to distract Ronaldo by shining a laser in his eyes, but their players did not need any assistance, certainly not when Benzema bisected Ferdinand and Vidic. Toulalan was alert to the young striker’s darting run and threaded through a pass. In a blur, Benzema controlled the ball with one foot before thrashing it across Van der Sar with his left. “It was a fantastic goal,” Ferguson said.

Saturday had provided compelling evidence that Rooney is more than capable of playing alone up front, provided that he is given the support, but it came only in fleeting spells against Lyons.

There were a couple of flashes of brilliance from Ronaldo, but the Portugal winger was largely subdued and Rooney became increasingly isolated until Nani and Tévez injected the desired cut and thrust into the visiting team’s play.

Lyons (4-3-3): G Coupet – A Réveillère, S Squillaci, J-A Boumsong, F Grosso – Juninho Pernambucano, J Toulalan (sub: M Bodmer, 74min), K Källström – F Clerc (sub: H Ben Arfa, 78), K Benzema (sub: Fred, 83), S Govou. Substitutes not used: R Vercoutre, Cris, C Delgado, K Keita. Booked: Källström, Boumsong, Réveillère.

Manchester United (4-1-4-1): E van der Sar – W Brown, R Ferdinand, N Vidic, P Evra – O Hargreaves (sub: M Carrick, 78) – C Ronaldo, P Scholes (sub: C Tévez, 65), Anderson, R Giggs (sub: Nani, 65) – W Rooney. Substitutes not used: T Kuszczak, L Saha, J O’Shea, D Fletcher. Booked: Hargreaves.

Referee: L Medina Cantalejo (Spain).