Manchester United 0, Coventry 2:A man from Malta made Alex Ferguson very cross indeed as Michael Mifsud struck twice to dump Manchester United out of the League Cup.
The 26-year-old finished off Michael Doyle's low cross to give Coventry a surprise half-time lead, then completed his hard work by drilling home a superb second 19 minutes from time to send the Sky Blues' 11,000-strong travelling army into orbit.
Iain Dowie's men just about deserved their triumph, if only for Mifsud's determined efforts.
Dubbed "Mosquito" by Coventry assistant-boss Tim Flowers, Mifsud certainly gave United a nasty bite and should have emulated legendary Ronaldo by netting an Old Trafford hat-trick, only to fire wide of an empty net when Tomasz Kuszczak spilled a free-kick into his path.
Seven days after Chelsea attracted just 24,000 to Stamford Bridge for a Champions League encounter with Rosenborg, almost three times that number turned up to see effectively a United reserve side in action.
True, there were huge numbers from Coventry and the home supporters had been forced to buy their tickets through a controversial "automatic cup scheme" implemented by the Glazer family. But most of the thousands of empty seats which had been predicted were in fact occupied.
There were plenty at full-time, however, as Ferguson's team found themselves humbled by a supposedly out-of-form Coventry side.
It was United's first defeat to lower league opposition on home soil since the 1995 humiliation by York City.
David Beckham and Ryan Giggs were unable to save United that night. On this occasion, it was the turn of Michael Carrick, Wes Brown and John O'Shea to squirm.
United had been the dominant side until Coventry grabbed their opener, yet visiting goalkeeper Andy Marshall was not tested by the hosts who, while completely changed from the side that beat Chelsea on Sunday, still contained six full internationals.
One of them, Nani, was a particular disappointment. The Portugal winger got on the ball often enough but, for a player of his supposed quality, the final pass or shot was too poor to be true.
Immediately before Mifsud struck, Nani screwed a shot so badly wide it threatened the corner flag.
The Coventry fans were still jeering Nani when they were given something far more positive to celebrate as Mifsud put them in front. Skipper Michael Doyle had already found too much space on the left-hand side of United's area, but when he delivered a low cross to the right, Mifsud was on his own as well and slid the ball home with ease.
Ferguson delivered his own damning verdict on his side's performance by introducing Wes Brown and young striker Fraizer Campbell at the break.
A third change followed 10 minutes after the restart as Michael Carrick was introduced for Jonny Evans.
With O'Shea slotting into the left-back position Evans had been filling, and Danny Simpson before him, clearly Ferguson felt Simpson was the source of his side's problems.
Even with the alterations, the second period was halfway through before United carved out anything like an opportunity as David Marshall parried Dong Fangzhou's shot into the path of Carrick, whose follow-up effort was blocked at close range.
Marshall then produced an outstanding fingertip save to deny Dong, whose header was floating into the top corner.
The value of that stop was proved within a minute as Mifsud doubled his tally. He picked up possession on the left, then when Jay Tabb overhit his first touch as he tried to collect the winger's pass, Mifsud raced on and rocketed the ball home.
Mifsud will probably never know how he failed to walk off with the match ball as he darted onto the ball Kuszczak pushed into his path as United disintegrated. Unbelievably, the striker fired wide of an empty goal.
By then Ferguson was slumped back in his seat, resigned to his fate anyway.
MAN UTD: Kuszczak, Bardsley (Brown h-t), Evans (Carrick 56), Pique, Simpson, Nani, Martin (Campbell h-t), O'Shea, Eagles, Dong, Anderson. Subs not used: Heaton, Eckersley. Booked: Pique.
COVENTRY: Marshall, Osbourne (McNamee 88), Ward, Turner, Borrowdale, Simpson, Stephen Hughes, Doyle, Tabb, Mifsud, Best (Adebola 90). Subs not used: Konstantopoulos, De Zeeuw, Thornton.
Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
