Marcelo Salas returned to haunt Manchester United as he put the Treble winners to the sword in the UEFA Super Cup last night.
Alex Ferguson thought long and hard about signing the striker at the back end of 1998 and even flew halfway round the world to watch him play for Chile. In the end he did not like what he saw - at least that is what Martin Edwards said - and the following summer Ferguson bought Dwight Yorke.
No one could argue that Yorke has not proved to be an excellent acquisition, but in Monaco's Stade Louis II Salas reminded Ferguson how good he could have been for United.
The South American striker began the match on the bench and came on after 23 minutes for the injured Simone Inzaghi. Salas took just 12 minutes to make his mark when he fired home the only goal of this clash of two of European football's heavyweights.
The Serie A runners-up were worth their win over a strangely-subdued United. But then the Super Cup was never top of their hit list for the season.
As promised Ferguson rotated his squad for this clash of the big spenders in the millionaires' playground of Monaco. He had also vowed to field a strong team and he did just that.
Paul Scholes returned to midfield and Ferguson deployed three attackers in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole. Gary Neville also returned from a groin injury to play in his first serious game since that night in Barcelona last May.
Both sides quickly demonstrated their class and Sheringham headed just wide from Phil Neville's cross. Pavel Nedved then left Henning Berg for dead on the left and cut inside only for his shot to cannon off Jaap Stam.
Neither side was holding back and Cole released Sheringham through the middle, but Lazio goalkeeper Luca Marchegiani came out smartly to save at his feet.
Despite Lazio's lack of match fitness - they had yet to play a competitive game this season - they were causing United's defence plenty of anxious moments.
Raimond Van der Gouw saved a drive from the marauding Paolo Negro before the goal Lazio had threatened came in the 35th minute.
Giuseppe Pancaro played the ball up to Roberto Mancini on the edge of the area and he headed it square to Salas, whose shot seemed to pass through Van der Gouw's hands and into the back of the net.
Sheringham almost levelled within seconds when Marchegiani saved his shot at his near post.
It was real end-to-end stuff and a minute later Pavel Nedved pinged a shot just wide of the upright.
Marchegiani denied United an equaliser when he brilliantly palmed away a header from the unmarked Scholes from Beckham's cross.
But it was Lazio who picked up where they left off following the interval and Van der Gouw pushed a stinging volley from the unmarked Nedved over the bar.
The Italians were cutting through United at will and Salas rounded Van der Gouw from Nedved's pass only to screw his shot across the open goal from the narrow angle.
United clearly needed to switch to plan B as their three-man midfield was being overrun by Lazio's quintet. But Ferguson's strange response was to bring on John Curtis for Stam and Jordi Cruyff for Beckham.
It was almost as if Ferguson wanted to avoid playing another 30 hard minutes on this bone-hard pitch. If that was his strategy it worked and Lazio came closer to a second goal than United did an equaliser.
Lazio: Marchegiani, Negro, Nesta, Mihajlivic, Pancaro, Stankovfic, Veron, Almeyda, Mancini (Lombardo 84), Nedved (Simeone 66), Inzaghi (Salas 23). Subs not used: Ballotta, Favalli, Conceicao, Andersson. Booked: Veron. Goal: Salas 35.
Man Utd: Van Der Gouw, G. Neville, Berg, Stam (Curtis 57), P. Neville, Beckham (Cruyff 58), Keane, Scholes, Cole (Greening 77), Sheringham, Solskjaer. Subs not used: Culkin, Giggs, Yorke, Wilson. Booked: Scholes.
Referee: R Wojcik (Poland).
