MANCHESTER UNITED’S POOR start to the season slumped to a new low on Tuesday evening, as Jose Mourinho’s side were dumped out of the League Cup by Derby County at Old Trafford.
Just hours after Mourinho reportedly told unsettled star Paul Pogba that he would never captain the team again, there was a bitter pill for the United manager to swallow as second tier Derby sprang a major surprise in the third round.
After leading through Juan Mata’s early strike, United capitulated in the second half as Harry Wilson’s stunning free-kick got the visitors back on terms, before goalkeeper Sergio Romero was sent-off for handling outside the box.
It looked like Jack Marriott had completed Derby’s stunning raid of the Theatre of Dreams with four minutes left on the clock, only for Marouane Fellaini’s last-gasp header to send the tie into penalties.
But the Championship club, managed by Frank Lampard, weren’t to be denied as they caused a huge upset, winning the shoot-out 8-7 as Phil Jones missed the decisive penalty.
The hosts wasted little time before taking the lead in the regulation 90 minutes, as Mata rounded off a lovely early move, but Derby looked capable of troubling United and deservedly levelled early in the second half through Liverpool loanee Wilson’s superb set-piece from range.
Things got more difficult for United when Romero was dismissed for handball outside his area and Derby capitalised through Marriott, but Fellaini forced a shootout with a last-gasp equaliser.
United were unable to bail themselves out again, however, as Derby scored all of their spot-kicks and edged through when Jones failed from 12 yards.
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