Andy Cole looked a snip at £7 million in the De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam last night. It is nearly three years since Alex Ferguson brought the striker to Old Trafford on the strength of his prolific form at St James' Park, but only now are Newcastle entitled to feel that they have been caught on the wrong end of a Dutch auction.
Another hat-trick from Cole, his second in three matches, gave Manchester United a comfortable victory over Feyenoord which has further strengthened their chances of again reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Cole struck twice before half-time and then completed a move of almost impudent ease in the 74th minute by tapping the ball into an empty net after Ryan Giggs had exchanged passes with Gary Pallister and rounded Jurek Dudek, the Feyenoord goalkeeper.
Igor Korneev beat Peter Schmeichel with four minutes remaining but the night was Cole's.
Apart from one or two speculative sprints by Cole the United attack was barely evident for the best part of the first half-hour. Yet the mere presence on the wings of David Beckham and Giggs was enough to restrict the forward runs of Paricio Graff and Ulrich Van Gobbel.
For 20 minutes neither side created a scoring chance. Then Korneev turned in space near the United 18-yard line and his short pass caught Henning Berg and Gary Pallister square. Cruz's shot, however, was not equal to the moment and Schmeichel made a simple save.
The United goalkeeper would have been left helpless two minutes later had a low cross from Graff found a friendly foot at the far post. But by just past the half-hour, when Graff was hurt in a tackle with Beckham and gave way to Geoffrey Claeys, United were in front.
After Teddy Sheringham had exploited an error by Kees Van Wonderen, forcing Dudek to push a cross-shot around a post, the respite was brief. On the half-hour Gary Neville's high through-pass found Cole beating Bernard Schuiteman for speed through the middle. The centre-back tried to hook the ball away but merely knocked it against Cole, whose effort sailed over Dudek and into the net.
By half-time United were two ahead and again looking a class above their opponents. The loss of Graff had upset Feyenoord's balance on the left and the goal in the 44th minute was a shrewdly-conceived and cleanly-executed consequence of this.
Beckham exchanged passes with Sheringham and after sprinting clear on to the return played the ball low into the goalmouth where Cole, his explosive pace having again blown the last of Feyenoord's cover, slid a low shot past Dudek.
As Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, running on to a short free-kick from Jean-Paul Van Gasten at the start of the second half, nearly surprised Schmeichel with the power and direction of his shot it was clear that United's task was far from done. Yet a moment's composure by Giggs in the 55th minute would surely have left the rest of the evening a formality.
Gary Pallister prodded the Welshman past a flat Feyenoord defence and Dudek's dash from his line appeared a forlorn gesture. But Giggs's shot was hasty and flew over the bar. But Giggs made amends when he set up Cole's third.
Feyenoord: Dudek, Van Gobbel, Boateng, Schuiteman, Van Wonderen, Graff (Claeys 34), Bosvelt (Zwijnenberg 81), Van Gastel, Van Bronckhorst, Korneev, Cruz (Vos 76). Subs not used: Petry, Picun, Sanchez, Glaucio. Booked: Claeys, Cruz. Goal: Korneev 87.
Manchester Utd: Schmeichel, Irwin (P Neville 81), G Neville, Berg, Pallister, Butt, Scholes (Poborsky 76), Beckham, Giggs, Cole (Solskjaer 73), Sheringham. Subs not used: Van Der Gouw, McClair, Thornley, Curtis. Booked: Scholes. Goals: Cole 31, 44, 73.
Referee: S Puhl (Hungary).
