But, while the long-serving Scot was delighted with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s second-half double that saw the Dutchman become United’s most prolific European marksman, he couldn’t disguise his unhappiness with much of the Red Devils’ performance.

Ferguson claimed only Van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo and new-boy Gabriel Heinze reached the level expected of a United player and places are now at risk ahead of his first confrontation with new Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez.

“I don’t think you can ignore what happened in the first-half,” said Ferguson. “I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I did that.

“At half-time, I was terribly disappointed with some elements of our game. We had to change and in fairness to the players they did play with more intent.

“We had to defend further up the field and our passing of the ball could have been better. To be fair to the players, it did improve in both cases.

“But over the whole game, I could only say we had three performers who reached the standard we are looking for – Gabriel Heinze, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“In that situation we have to be happy with a 2-2 draw.”

Given Ferguson’s assessment of his team’s performance, the return of Rio Ferdinand to the heart of the United defence at Old Trafford on Monday now seems automatic.

Ferdinand travelled with the Red Devils party to Lyon, even though his eight-month ban doesn’t expire until midnight on Sunday, and did an extra training session yesterday in a bid to ensure he is as fit as possible ahead of the Liverpool visit.

Both Wes Brown and Mikael Silvestre will fear for their places after unconvincing displays in the last couple of matches, although Ferguson also has the option of switching Brown to right-back in place of John O’Shea, who endured a torrid evening trying to cope with the attacking thrusts of Florent Malouda.

Phil Neville and Alan Smith also have plausible claims for a starting spot on Monday, while Louis Saha could be available again after his recent knee problems.

The major issue for Ferguson though is whether he should stick with goalkeeper Tim Howard.

The American keeper followed up his blunder at Bolton on Saturday with an equally obvious mistake that gifted Cris Lyon’s opener last night and it might now be time to take Howard out of the firing line and give Roy Carroll a chance, as Ferguson did last season following his previous string of errors.

Clearly, one player he doesn’t need to worry about is Van Nistelrooy.

With just a single previous appearance behind him, the former PSV Eindhoven hitman capped a typically industrious 75 minutes with a brace that took his overall tally in European competition to 30, two more than the legendary Denis Law.

“Forget the record for a bit,” enthused Ferguson. “Ruud’s biggest feat last night was playing almost a full game, taking a number of challenges, some of which were really unfair and he still scoring two goals.

“Having not played any real football for four months, that is a remarkable feat in itself.

“Of course we know he is a fantastic goalscorer. He has broken a few records already and he will go on to break some more.”

Lyon coach Paul le Guen hailed Van Nistelrooy as ’one of the best strikers in the world’, while the Dutchman also earned a tribute from the man whose record he had just broken.

“I am delighted,” said Law, who learned of Van Nistelrooy’s achievement on holiday in Portugal.

“It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. He thoroughly deserves it, especially as he has come back from a serious injury. To achieve what he has done since then is fantastic.”