Football
ESPN staff 10y

United hammered by Dons, and press

Manchester United's humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Milton Keynes Dons in the Capital One Cup sparked an inquest in the British press on Wednesday morning.

- Brewin: Van Gaal bullish despite defeat
- Okwonga: Cup humiliation adds to United malaise
- MacIntosh: A test of conviction for United faithful

William Grigg and Arsenal loanee Benik Afobe both scored braces as a United squad featuring a mixture of youth and experience was blown away by a team who lie seventh in the fledgling League One table, two divisions below their illustrious rivals.

The numbing result came just a couple of hours after United announced they had completed the signing of Angel di Maria from Real Madrid for a British record transfer fee of 59.7 million pounds.

In the Daily Telegraph, there is no beating about the bush as its sports pages lead with "Shaming the Shirt: Van Gaal's shambolic United thrashed by League One minnows". The full-page splash shows Van Gaal looking horrified as events unfold during the game. And on its website, the paper runs through a rogues gallery of United's recent signings under the banner "£213.7m of signings = 35 starts and only 7 goals"

The Sun combined the transfer of Di Maria and the thrashing at MK Dons for their banner reading "Capital punishment" and the headline "DiSASTER," followed by "United humiliated by minnows" and Di Maria's statement of "I didn't want to leave Real". Ryan Giggs is pictured covering his face while Van Gaal looks to the floor.

The Independent runs with a simple headline of "MK Dons 4 LVG 0", below a picture of Ryan Giggs and Louis van Gaal looking concerned on the United bench at stadium:mk.

Over at the Daily Star, it's "Don Four: Van Gaal horror as United are humiliated". The Daily Express also opts for "Don Four" on its website.

And at the Daily Mail, it's online coverage is headed with "Staring into the abyss: On the day United shattered British transfer record for Di Maria, Van Gaal's flops are humiliated 4-0 by minnows".

^ Back to Top ^