Celtic qualify as Nakamura strike floors United

Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura bent in a superb free-kick with nine minutes left to give Celtic a 1-0 win over Manchester United and qualification for the Champions League knockout stages last night.

United missed the chance to equalise when Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc saved Louis Saha's penalty in the 89th minute.

United dominated the first period of a match dubbed the battle of Britain but failed to create many clear opportunities and Celtic improved after the break.

With one round to play, Celtic have nine points from five games and are through because of their better record against United, who also have nine.

Benfica are third with seven points after beating visitors FC Copenhagen 3-1 with Italian striker Fabrizio Miccoli netting a brace.

In Group H, Brazilian forward Julio Cesar scored after half an hour to give AEK Athens a 1-0 home win over Milan in Greece.

The victory lifted AEK into second place in the group on seven points, three behind Milan and one ahead of Lille, who were held 2-2 by bottom team Anderlecht, with one match to go.

Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf brought down striker Nikos Liberopoulos just outside the box and Julio Cesar's free-kick found the bottom right-hand corner of Dida's net.

AEK's Italian goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino kept six-times European champions Milan at bay with a string of fine saves.

Gregory Coupet saved a last-gasp penalty to earn Olympique Lyon a 2-2 draw at Real Madrid that ensured the French side will progress to the last 16 of the Champions League as winners of Group E.

Despite being held to a draw, Real also advance to the last 16 as they will surely finish second in the group.

Coupet guessed right to dive to his left and beat away a Ruud van Nistelrooy spot kick a minute from time, given after the Dutchman had gone to ground in the area under a challenge from Lyon defender Cris.

The French champions had gone 2-0 up shortly after half an hour thanks to a superb individual goal from the outstanding John Carew and a clever close-range finish from midfielder Florent Malouda.

But former Lyon midfielder Mahamadou Diarra put Real back in the game when he headed in after a corner shortly before the break and Van Nistelrooy equalised seven minutes from time when he poked home from a metre out.

But the Dutchman blotted his copy book six minutes later with his penalty miss, while Coupet became the hero of the night with a save that guaranteed his side first place.

Arsenal fightback

Defender Emmanuel Eboue spared Arsenal's blushes by firing a late goal in a tense 3-1 Champions League victory over Hamburg SV that sent the Gunners to the top of Group G.

Hamburg, beaten in their four previous games and certain to finish bottom, took a shock fourth minute lead when Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart curled in a superb shot from distance.

Arsenal's Dutch forward Robin Van Persie equalised in the 52nd minute but last season's beaten finalists were still in trouble until Ivorian right back Eboue rifled an angled shot beneath keeper Stefan Waechter in the 84th minute.

Brazilian substitute Julio Baptista headed the third in the 89th minute, though the celebrations were marred by a yellow card for talismanic striker Thierry Henry which rules him out of their final game in Porto on Dec 6.

Arsenal are top on 10 points, with a better head-to-head record over Porto, CSKA Moscow are on eight and Hamburg still without a point.

Earlier, goals by Ricardo Quaresma and Lucho Gonzalez powered Porto to a 2-0 win at CSKA Moscow.

Quaresma struck just 80 seconds into the game and Gonzalez added a second on the hour as the Portuguese champions outplayed the Russians.