Sir Alex Ferguson's trust in his players was vindicated as Manchester United secured their place in the next stage of the Champions League, but only after a characteristic heart-stopping moment late on at Old Trafford.

There may have been up to £30m in revenue at stake, as well as the club's European pride.

But Ferguson had still refused to panic at the prospect of his team needing to beat Dynamo Kiev in their final group game, declaring that he believed in his team.

They have certainly come through even bigger tests before, but the tradition at United continues to be doing it the hard way as well as testing Ferguson's already frayed nerves along the way.

For while it was Teddy Sheringham's 17th-minute strike that settled the outcome, United were just as indebted to Kiev substitute George Demetradze for missing a virtually open goal with only five minutes left.

If his shot had been just a foot nearer the goal, United would have been knocked out of the Champions League and demoted into the UEFA Cup less than two years after winning Europe's premier club competition.

As it was, Sheringham's 12th goal of the season proved decisive on a night when United never reached top gear .

His goal was as compelling an argument in favour of the two-year contract extension he wants as any agent could wish for. Given what had seemed a relatively straightforward group, United should never have been in this position at all.

Some supporters may still have been mindful of the fact that the team's last three eliminations from the competition had all come at Old Trafford - against Real Madrid, Monaco and Borussia Dortmund.

But they certainly played with much greater patience than they did against Real last season, when they were guilty of naively throwing too many players forward.

Kiev were also a shadow of the side that once contained Sergei Rebrov, Andrii Shevchenko and Oleg Luzhny, while they had come to Old Trafford with a number of injury problems.

United were themselves missing Paul Scholes and Jaap Stam through injury but Nicky Butt was as industrious in midfield as ever while Wes Brown confidently partnered Gary Neville in defence.

It was Sheringham who not only set up the United goal but also scored it.

When a loose ball fell to the 34-year-old England international midway inside his own half, his turn and first-time long ball forward to Andy Cole were superb.

Cole may have lost the ball under his feet but when he then looked up, there was Sheringham in the penalty area to set up Roy Keane for a clear shot on goal with an intelligent sideways pass.

And when the United captain's effort was saved by Olexander Shovkovskyi's legs, Sheringham was on hand a third time to bundle the loose ball into the net.