Coventry City nostalgia from CoventryLive as we remember a memorable Old Trafford victory.
Former Coventry City fan Michael Mifsud returned to the club as a special guest of the Former Players’ Association at the weekend for the first time in over a decade.
The 42-year-old, who retired from football only a few years ago, traveled from Malta to watch Stoke play at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
On September 27, 2007, he fired City to a brilliant victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, scoring a double that knocked the Red Devils out of the League Cup, and this is where we recall his most memorable match for the Sky Blues.
This is what happened:
In the third round of the Carling Cup, Coventry City had one of their best away days at Old Trafford.
Two goals from Michael Mifsud, dubbed “The Mosquito” by an opponent, knocked the Premier League side out of the League Cup. Mifsud headed home Michael Doyle’s cross after 27 minutes, leaving the 11,000 Coventry fans in raptures at Old Trafford.
After a strong start against a United side that included six full internationals and a future World Cup winner (Spain’s Gerard Pique), Ian Dowie’s Sky Blues deserved the lead at the break.
Sir Alex Ferguson made changes at halftime, and Coventry goalkeeper Andy Marshall had to be at his best to keep the Sky Blues ahead, denying Dong Fangzhou twice in quick succession.
Mifsud doubled his tally after 70 minutes, proving the worth of those saves. Jay Tabb attempted to pick up the pass on the left, but his overhit touch fell back into the path of Mifsud, who raced in and fired home.
Later, the Maltese striker had a chance to complete a memorable hat-trick but missed from close range. It didn’t matter because the Sky Blues secured a memorable result at Old Trafford on an unforgettable night.
Manchester United: Kuszczak, Pique, Evans (Carrick, 54), Simpson, Martin (Campbell, h-t), Anderson, O’Shea, Nani, Fangzhuo, Eagles. Heaton and Eckersley were not used as substitutes.
Marshall, Osbourne, Ward, Turner, Borrowdale, Hughes; R Simpson, Tabb, Doyle, Mifsud, and Best for Coventry City. Konstantopoulos, De Zeeuw, Adebola, McNamee, and Thornton were not used as substitutes.
“To come here and score twice against zero gives my players a lot of credit,” Iain Dowie said. In every position, they demonstrated a strong desire. The keeper made one outstanding save, but we limited them to only a few opportunities. It was a team Fergie thought was good enough to beat us, and discussing who wasn’t playing would be unfair to my players.”
“The performance was a shock to us all,” said Sir Alex Ferguson. “These are players whose talents we have been trumpeting for a while but I was flabbergasted with the performance.”
