Manchester United labelled anything other than the favourites tends to be a rarity. On occasions where it’s a knockout game in a domestic competition, the opposing team are the underdogs, and beating United is something a lot of clubs can only imagine.
In the next case of a tournament where the reds are drawn against a team much lower down the football pyramid; Colchester United travel to Old Trafford in the quarter final of the League Cup. Manchester United come into this game as favourites and rightly so, as they have picked up 7 points out of a possible 9 against Tottenham, Manchester City and Everton respectively.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a huge chance to progress to the semi-final and claim what could be United’s best chance at a trophy this season. Certainly, OGS won’t want to write an unwanted chapter in his tenure as Manchester United boss, and a win against Colchester is a must.
However, fans won’t want a repeat of some cup upsets that we have experienced over the years. They have happened to multiple managers over the years and the FullTimeDevils Blog takes a look at some of the shock cup upsets that have happened to Manchester United.
Manchester United 0-1 Leeds United: Third round, FA Cup 2010
A formidable rivalry between the two giants of English football saw them clash once again. A chance for United to get one over their hated rivals and what should have been an easy win turned into a tough afternoon for the reds. Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov were among the senior players among the starting eleven and even though Leeds were 42 places below United in League One, it was a nice finish from Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford that was enough for the Yorkshire club and see them through to the next round of the FA Cup. United applied pressure but couldn’t find an equaliser to spare their blushes.
MK Dons 4-0 Manchester United: Second round, League Cup 2014
Fans were full of optimism. Moyes had Gone. Louis Van Gaal was appointed as our new manager with Ryan Giggs as his assistant and Angel Di Maria was signed in the summer. However, fans crashed back down to earth in a shocking defeat to MK Dons. Senior international players David De Gea, Shinji Kagawa, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck all in the starting line up but were unable to prevent arguably one of United’s most embarrassing nights. A shocking performance from the team made fans realise that a rebuilding job was bigger than first thought.
Bristol City 2-1 Manchester United: League Cup Quarter final: 2017
Nobody expected Manchester United’s League Cup trophy defence to come to an end to a championship side, but Bristol City scored an injury time winner to set up a Semi final tie with United’s local rivals Manchester City. Jose did make changes to the starting line up but still went with a front three of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. A trio that would scare premier league defences, never mind a championship one. The Bristolian club continued to push forward until the end and were rewarded with a win, making Manchester United the fourth premier league club that season.
