Manchester United might still be able to rescue their Carabao Cup campaign which ended in humiliating fashion at the hands of Grimsby Town.
The Mariners hosted the Red Devils in the second round of the tournament in a match that many had expected to be a walk in the park for Ruben Amorim’s men. After all, struggling they may be, the Premier League giants were never supposed to encounter any trouble against a League Two side.
But contrary to all expectations, it was the fourth-tier club that dominated the action, and headed towards the interval with an astonishing two-goal lead.
Man Utd suffered humiliating defeat in Grimsby
After the break, Amorim’s substitutions eventually paid off, as goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire dragged MUFC back into the contest which had to be settled by penalty shootouts.
The spot-kicks were equally dramatic, and they were only settled after 13 attempts from each team, with Mbeumo’s miss giving Grimsby a historic win over the Reds, fueling a pitch invasion from the ecstatic home crowd.
However, it has now been revealed that the fourth-tier club has been slapped with a £20,000 fine for fielding an ineligible player.
The man in question is Clarke Oduor, who had joined the day before on loan from Bradford City, but it later turned out that Grimsby had missed the deadline by two minutes when registering the player.
Will Man United ask to overturn Grimsby defeat?
As BBC explains, Man United have five days to appeal the decision and ask for the result to be overturned. In the meantime, club officials have refused to comment on the matter.
But as the source notes, similar situations have occurred on three previous occasions in the Carabao Cup, and a fine was deemed sufficient each time, as this sort of breach never resulted in the elimination of a participant club.
Therefore, Man United would be wise to let it go, as progressing in the tournament in this fashion would arguably be more embarrassing than the defeat itself.
