Fall of Manchester United Empire Nearly Complete After Capital One Cup Loss

With Wednesday's devastating loss to Sunderland in the Capital One Cup, Manchester United's fall from the top is nearly complete.

http://www.beinsports.tv/news/title/fall-of-manchester-united-empire-nearly-complete-after-capital-one-cup-loss/article/qkf13ewepsyi15297e4fnup42

By Jeremiah Tittle (@WWWJT)

And I know it's over

Still I cling

I don't know where else I can go

It's over, it's over, it's over

I know it's over

And it never really began

But in my heart it was so real…

               -Steven Morrissey, The Smiths

Manchester United supporters should not read any further. That warning, much like urging someone not to look at a car crash, is futile. We all look.

And the rubber-necking taking place around Old Trafford—and amongst the club’s self-proclaimed 659 million followers—is extending waiting lists at chiropractors' offices worldwide.

That collective groan that stopped traffic was not simply a result of the Red Devils losing to Sunderland Wednesday night on penalty kicks. It’s not just because the poor-at-defending defending Premier League champions were upset by a team that currently sits in second-to-last place in England.

The mere fact that crashing out of the Capital One Cup is of particular significance tells part of the story.

As low as the tournament ranks in importance, Manchester United needed this win. David Moyes needed this win.

Forget that. The fans needed this win! They needed something to believe in for the next month and a half—with the final to be played on March 2.

Instead of anticipating an epic derby at Wembley, United supporters will watch—if they can stomach it—Gus Poyet and his most deserving Black Cats side, led like lambs to the slaughter as they face a prolific Manchester City, which recently became the fastest team to score 100 goals in a season in Premier League history.

No one would’ve picked Manchester United to beat the Citizens, either, after "Blue Moon" was sung so loudly at the Etihad following the 4-1 result of the first derby this season. But anything can happen in one game, a final, no less.

In fact, it was shaping up to be an opportunity for Moyes to finally get the backing of the United fans—much like Sir Alex Ferguson needed to win the FA Cup in his fifth season to secure his future with the club, long before he was knighted.

Of course, these days a manager doesn’t get five seasons to win. Heck, a manager doesn’t get one full season. Hence, the voicemail messages Sir Alex has been leaving each fan individually, urging for support of the new manager since he stepped down.

United had lost four of their last five coming into the match, and Wednesday's setback was much more than a loss, at least mentally. It was a loss of pride. A loss of the never-say-die attitude that the elder Scot preached—to the point of the media branding it "Fergie time" when late heroics became the rule rather than the exception.

Former Sunderland defender Jonny Evans headed in a Danny Welbeck shot at the back post in the first half, and a 1-0 result at the end of extra time would have seen the Red Devils earn a shot at City in the final.

But two minutes from time, goalkeeper David De Gea was beaten by former Manchester United midfielder Phil Bardsley, who struck a weak 20-foot shot to the right of the Spaniard's feet, and it trickled past him into the goal.

Some late—but all too rare—urgency in added time saw Adnan Januzaj’s cross fired home by Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, making supporters believe again in the DNA of this club. But it was not to be.

Penalty kicks were the death knell. Sunderland might have only made the net bulge twice, but it was enough.

Reprehensible misses by Welbeck, Januzaj, Phil Jones and Rafael made the believers crumble and admit what they already knew.

It’s over.  

All those fans sick of United’s New York Yankees-like dominance are partying like it’s 1999. It’s like they won the lottery. It's like a menacing dictator being officially removed from power.

Now the fans in red must focus on the positives. They must hold on to the hope that the currently London-based 5’7” Spaniard with a $61 million price tag doesn’t figure out a way to fail his medical.