‘They came to turn back time but long before the final whistle blew, the three men who once played for Manchester United discovered their old team had left them far behind, cast off like forgotten stragglers.
In another era not long in the past, they had all had their sweet and triumphal moments in the colours of Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
Remember Andy Cole chipping the Tottenham goalkeeper to clinch the league title and the first leg of the Treble in front of the Stretford End in 1999.
Remember Dwight Yorke and his stellar performances in great arenas like the San Siro and the Stadio Delle Alpi. And Henning Berg being drafted in after winning the title in his first stint at Blackburn to shore up the creaking United defence. But United's march forward, their quest for progress and improvement, is relentless and ruthless. It waits for no man.
All they could do was play little cameos that caused the great machine some passing irritation but could not stop it. Berg scored the looping header in the 25th minute that equalised Ruud van Nistelrooy's opening goal and sent murmurs of uncertainty running through the expectant crowd. And Cole nipped the ball away from substitute goalkeeper Ricardo two minutes after half time to draw a clear penalty that David Dunn went on to miss.
But even though none of this trio of fine players returning to the scene of former glories let themselves down, they suffered in comparison to the new breed. All of them looked like men whose best days came and went long ago. Tired with the knowledge they will never hit the heights they reached with United again.’