Crespo back on target

By Simon Hart & Adrian Harte

His time in English football was deemed a failure but Hernán Crespo showed the Premiership exactly what it is missing when he scored the only goal as AC Milan downed Manchester United FC 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round first-leg at Old Trafford.

Milan patience
The Argentinian international capitalised on a Roy Carroll error to give the Rossoneri a crucial advantage. Crespo says the goal, which came 12 minutes from time, was the product of Milan's purposefully patient approach. He told uefa.com: "The key was we stayed patient. We wanted to control the ball and then wait for the right moment to strike. We did that." He added: "We have the kind of players who can do that, players like [Andrea] Pirlo, Kaká and Rui Costa, whose ball control is their biggest asset. It helps us and we did that well at Old Trafford."

History of goals
Crespo, back in Italy on loan after eleven months with Chelsea FC, is clearly revelling playing in such company. He certainly has the pedigree to thrive on the service offered by Kaká et al. Whether in the colours of Parma AC, S.S. Lazio, FC Internazionale Milano or Milan, Crespo has plundered goals in Serie A. Indeed his tally now stands at a staggering 116 goals in 182 top-flight games in Italy.

Most expensive
Add to that his tally of 29 goals in 60 matches in European competition and a strike rate of 36 goals in 50 internationals and it is not hard to see why the Florida-born Crespo was once the world's most expensive player and why over €120m has been paid out in transfer fees to secure his services.

Goal touch returns
This season, despite a slow start, he has gradually returned to his best form, with his nine goals in Serie A including six since the turn of the year when he has stepped in to fill the void left by the injured Filippo Inzaghi and more recently Andriy Shevchenko.

Chelsea perspective
His time at Chelsea would appear to be the one negative on that CV but his short spell could probably do with some revisionism. While a series of injuries restricted his appearances and the striker struggled to settle in London, he still managed to score ten goals in 19 Premiership starts - a better strike rate than any Chelsea striker this season or last.

Chelsea regret
Although Crespo is expected to move to Italy permanently in the summer when his season-long loan comes to an end, he spoke before the United match of his regret that he "never really repaid the confidence [Roman] Abramovich had shown".

Satisfying goal
Certainly, he showed at Old Trafford that he has the predatory skills to thrive anywhere but, speaking after the match, he was in no mood for gloating about proving a point. He told uefa.com: "I'm really happy because scoring the decisive goal in a game of such importance is really satisfying. I had a bad time in England, with a lot of injuries, but now I feel OK and I am relaxed and happy to have scored that goal."