Manchester United 1 Lille OSC 0 DISCIPLINE and patience will be the watchwords as Alex Ferguson and Manchester United go in search of their holy grail this season.

Ferguson and his boys are determined to put in one big, last effort to lift the European Champions League trophy again in what will be the great man's last season in charge at Old Trafford.

But if you are expecting the usual flair and flamboyance usually associated with United to be to the fore in Europe, you can forget it.

Even with new mega stars Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastian Veron and Laurent Blanc added to the galaxy of talent already available to him, Ferguson is preaching caution on the road to European glory.

With most people expecting United to go for the jugular against little-known European first-timers, Lille, United played a cat and mouse containing game, stringing five across midfield and concentrating on containment rather than out and out attainment.

Their ability to rescue things at the death with dramatic late goals did not desert them though and David Beckham was there to fire in a last minute winner with the goalkeeper wrong footed after Van Nistelrooy had played the ball low across goal from the right.

"I was pleased with the performance. We showed very good discipline," said Ferguson. "You need that when you know opponents are difficult to beat.

"It was a far more measured approach. We gambled in the last 20 minutes when we needed to and it brought it's reward. I think it could work again.

"Patience got it's reward tonight. I am very pleased with the victory. It's a good start to the campaign."

While the system might have been frustrating for the fans, there could be bonuses when United come up against the bigger guns such as Juventus, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

And Ferguson hinted that the caution might be eased a little away from home when opponents are forced to come at them more.

"There's no team in the world scores more away goals than us," he declared.