Five more terrible Man Utd performances under Solskjaer to rival Man City defeat

Manchester United's Carabao Cup first-leg defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night was branded as the worst performance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - by the man himself.

First-half strikes by Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and an Andreas Pereira own goal gave Pep Guardiola's side half a ticket to the League Cup final after only half an hour as United were blown away by their fierce rivals.

Although Marcus Rashford pulled a goal back, Solksjaer questioned his team's pride during a dismal display at Old Trafford.

The Norwegian said: 'The first half, from their first goal, was the worst we've played. Pride is a word you speak about at half-time.

'It's natural that your head goes down but we have to get back into the mentality quicker. It can't be me at half-time.'

While United were poor on Tuesday night, here are five matches that rival the City defeat for inadequacy.

Watford 2-0 Manchester United (22 December 2019)

You don't have to go very far back to find Manchester United's last inept performance.

The Red Devils travelled to face a Watford side that were bottom of the table having just won one game all season and not won at Vicarage Road since April.

To say it was a slow start from Solskjaer's side was an understatement - United had no attacking intent and didn't muster a shot on target until they were two goals down.

To make matters worse, Watford's goals came from a clanger from David de Gea, who allowed Ismaila Sarr's shot to spill through his fingers, and a Troy Deeney penalty following a clumsy foul by Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the area.

United were woeful all over the pitch that day.

Newcastle 1-0 Manchester United (6 October 2019)

Just like against Watford, United visited a sombre Newcastle who were sat in the relegation zone and desperately low in confidence.

But you wouldn't have guessed it at St James' Park that day as United looked more like the side towards the foot of the Premier League table.

Toon debutant Matty Longstaff's second-half strike gave Newcastle all three points and boss Steve Bruce a first ever win over United in his 400th career game as a Premier League manager.

United's woes in front of goal that day were summed up by the statistic that no Red Devils player had more touches in the Newcastle penalty area than centre-half Harry Maguire.

AZ Alkmaar 0-0 Manchester United (3 October 2019)

Manchester United have had some embarrassing results in the Europa League this season. While a 2-1 defeat to minnows Astana from Kazakhstan last November was bad, at least Solskjaer could hide behind the fact he put out a team of kids in that game.

Earlier on in their Europa League campaign - and three days before the Newcastle defeat - United's first-team stars put out arguably a worse performance against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

On Alkmaar's artificial surface, Solksjaer's side once again failed to register a shot on target and they would not have even secured a point were it not for a string of crucial David de Gea saves.

To make matters even more embarrassing, the United boss even branded that dire 0-0 display as a 'good performance' from his side.

'It's a good point away from home against a difficult opponent on a tough surface,' Solskjaer said. 'They beat Feyenoord 3-0 away the other day.'

Manchester United 0-2 Cardiff City (12 May 2019)

United weren't much better last season either - an embarrassing 2-0 defeat at home to already-relegated Cardiff summed up a dreadful end to the season under Solskjaer.

Goals in either half from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, who had only previously scored twice all season, meant that a newly-promoted side had won at Old Trafford by a two-goal margin or more for the first time since 1977.

It also consigned United to sixth place in the league, a whopping 32 points behind Premier League winners Manchester City.

Everton 4-0 Manchester United (21 April 2019)

While they ended last season terribly, United were in contention for a top-four spot when they visited Everton in April last year. A win at Goodison Park would have moved them level on points with Tottenham in third.

Instead, Manchester United self-combusted away from home once again, as first-half goals from Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson put them in control at half-time.

Solskjaer's team were not much better after the break, as a long-range Lucas Digne strike and Theo Walcott's smart finish put the Toffess 4-0 up after 65 minutes.

United missed a key opportunity to qualify for the Champions League in dramatic fashion.