10 SHAMBOLIC UNITED DEFEATS SINCE FERGIE RETIRED IN 2013 *

*NOT INCLUDING SATURDAY’S BATTERING AT BRENTFORD

MAN CITY 4 MAN UTD 1 SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

AFTER the jubilation of seizing the title back from Manchester City in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season, David Moyes’s first derby saw United go four goals down in the first 50 minutes. The match highlighted the painful reality that the balance of power would be swinging back towards the blue half of town for the best part of a decade.

OLYMPIACOS 2 MAN UTD 0 FEBRUARY 25, 2014

FORMER United chief Ed Woodward took a photo of the scoreboard in Greece from this Champions League last-16 first-leg clash as a reminder of United seeming to hit rock bottom. This embarrassing defeat was the beginning of the end for Moyes (right) and he was sacked two months later, even though United turned the tie around in the second leg.

MK DONS 4 MAN UTD 0 AUGUST 26, 2014

LOUIS VAN GAAL’S decision to put out a weakened team backfired spectacularly. United were hammered by a League One club who had only existed for 10 years.

MIDTJYLLAND 2 MAN UTD 1 FEBRUARY 18, 2016

TIME was already running out for Van Gaal when United were embarrassed in front of less than 10,000 fans by a Midtjylland team playing for the first time in more than two months after a mid-winter break in Denmark. United recovered to win this Europa League tie, but the Dutchman was sacked at the end of the season despite winning the FA Cup.

CHELSEA 4 MAN UTD 0 OCTOBER 23, 2016

UNITED’S capitulation was also a personal humiliation for Jose Mourinho as the Special One suffered the heaviest Premier League defeat of his career on his return to Stamford Bridge. United were a goal down after 30 seconds and never recovered. At least Mourinho won the Europa League and League Cup that season, the club’s last two pieces of silverware.

EVERTON 4 MAN UTD 0 APRIL 21, 2019

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER apologised to United fans after the worst result of his short time in charge. Unfortunately, the Norwegian was just getting going in terms of shocking results. United were totally outplayed at Goodison Park as they suffered a sixth defeat in eight games — a run that coincided with Solskjaer getting the job on a permanent basis.

MAN UTD 1 TOTTENHAM 6 OCTOBER 4, 2020

SOLSKJAER endured his ‘worst day ever’ as Mourinho’s Spurs ran riot at an empty Old Trafford to leave United 16th in the Premier League table. The home side actually led early on but were behind and heading for their joint-heaviest Premier League defeat by the time Anthony Martial was sent off in the 28th minute.

MAN UTD 0 LIVERPOOL 5 OCTOBER 24, 2021

IT was clear Solskjaer’s days were numbered after a brilliant Liverpool team swept into Old Trafford and brutally tore United to shreds. Four goals down at half-time — and five after 50 minutes — United fans were at one point seriously worried that their bitter rivals were going to reach double figures. The brilliant Mohamed Salah (right) became the first Liverpool player since Fred Howe in 1936 to score a hat-trick at Old Trafford.

WATFORD 4 MAN UTD 1 NOVEMBER 20, 2021

SOLSKJAER’S last stand. Needing a big performance from his players, the manager was let down again as United folded at Vicarage Road against a Watford team who ended up finishing 19th and being relegated. Captain Harry Maguire’s sending-off in the second half didn’t help, before two stoppage-time goals sealed Solskjaer’s fate. He was sacked the next day.

BRIGHTON 4 MAN UTD 0 MAY 7, 2022

ANY hope that caretaker boss Ralf Rangnick could rouse this group of players into some semblance of a decent United team had long since disappeared before they arrived on the south coast for the penultimate game of the season. Four goals down after an hour, United suffered an embarrassing defeat that killed off their chances of Champions League qualification.

SOMETIMES Manchester City’s opponents are best placed to offer a real gauge of where they are at and, a few days after last week’s win at West Ham, Michail Antonio was still talking about them. ‘Their system is liquid,’ he said. ‘It can’t be contained. They’re rotating everywhere. It was a masterclass.’ High praise. And the thing is, City are usually not quite this strong during the opening weeks. West Ham was a more impressive result than Saturday’s against Bournemouth for obvious reasons, although the level of control and performance remained the same. City have conceded just two shots on target in 180 minutes, scored six goals, handed a debut to 17-year-old Rico Lewis and barely broken sweat — even in this heatwave. ‘One million per cent they are the best team (I’ve ever seen), everything about them,’ Bournemouth manager Scott Parker said. ‘They are the most well-coached team, functionally, technically, everything about their game model is very difficult to play against.’ Pep Guardiola seems to think the World Cup will have a bearing on this season’s title and stressed the importance of a fast start. Qatar will halt the rhythm of teams and comes at a time when City are normally going through the gears, racking up lengthy runs of consecutive victories to compensate for dropped points around this time. ‘We cannot forget three seasons ago when Liverpool won the Premier League we lost five points in the first five games,’ Guardiola said. ‘And last season we also lost five points in the first five games.’ One significant boost for City is that Erling Haaland will not be in Qatar. He only touched the ball eight times on Saturday but one of them was a clever assist for new captain Ilkay Gundogan’s opener. He doesn’t really need to touch the ball all that much; City do their attacking through midfielders and that will never change. Instead, Haaland occupied two defenders throughout. That played into the hands of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, who both scored before half-time, before an own goal from Jefferson Lerma.