Given the opportunity to prove their progress and enter the top 4 of the Premier League if they defeat Everton - a team that has only won once at Old Trafford in the past 33 years - in a surprising way, Manchester United lost 0-1.
Everton even played with 10 men for 77 minutes after Idrissa Gueye received an unreasonable red card for... slapping his teammate Michael Keane.
Coach Ruben Amorim has always been cautious in his 5-match unbeaten streak, emphasizing that Man United still have a lot of work to do to truly transform. After a poor performance and a series of unforgivable mistakes against Everton, people can understand why he said that.
A moment near the end of the match summed up Man United's chaos. As the team was pushing up to find an equalizer, Amad Diallo ran out to make a throw-in and was given a penalty because he did not realize he was still standing on the field. A team getting a red card for a player fighting with a teammate is not the most ironic thing in this match.
It will be an unforgettable night for the "Red Devils" fans - who cried fiercely after the final whistle, but for all the reasons no one wanted to.
"It felt disappointing. Disappointment with the way we played. I think they were the better team. With 11 men, they defend very well. With only 10 men left for 70 minutes, they were the same. So I think we deserved to lose. We didn't play well. We are not playing at the right intensity. That's it," Amorim admitted.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Old Trafford has seen many bad days. But this match was truly one of the worst days.
Man United were playing under pressure even before Gueye was sent off. Everton - a team that has not won an away match since August - completely dominated in the first 10 minutes, making 14 successful passes in the opponent's half, compared to only one by Man United.
It is worth noting that in the post-match press conference, Amorim also seemed jealous of Everton's fighting spirit.
"Fighting is not a bad thing. Fighting does not mean they hate each other. Fighting is when you lose the ball and I will fight because otherwise, we will have to concede a goal. That's how I feel when I watch the game," said the Man United captain.
The match took place on the occasion of the anniversary of Amorim's first match with Man United against Ipswich Town. At that time, the message he sent to the fans was optimism: "We have a real chance to start making great strides this season".
However, his words after the loss to Everton have a completely different meaning. "We are not even close to competing for the best positions in the tournament. In the past 5 weeks, everyone has praised our progress. I'm still saying the same thing - we're not even close to where this club should be.
Today, we are really disappointed. We will be better in the future," Amorim added.
And that is another opportunity for Man United to prove that they are really improving and wasting. For them, a club always seems to have to start over, the question remains: where to start?
