Manchester United equalled an unwanted club record after the 3-0 loss to cross-town rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
City opened the scoring through Phil Foden after brilliant footwork from Jeremy Doku before Erling Haaland struck twice to take his goal tally against United to eight.
According to OptaJoe, United have now equalled their poorest league start with four points from four games. The first time they did the same was in the 1992/93 season under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The defeat also marked manager Ruben Amorim’s first-ever defeat to City since joining United.
United performed well in their opening matchday defeat to Arsenal, raising optimism that this season will be better than the previous campaign.
However, they have been unconvincing since then. They struggled to earn a draw at Fulham, needed a last-gasp penalty to beat newly promoted Burnley, before the abysmal performance against Man City today.
Amorim is now under immense pressure to deliver after the club backed him in the summer transfer window.
The Portuguese tactician remains resolute about sticking to his 3-4-2-1 formation. He vowed after today’s defeat: ‘I’m going to play my way until I want to change it’.
United are unlikely to pull the plug on him just yet, but he has to start delivering results.
Man United return to action next Saturday against Chelsea at Old Trafford. They will head into the game fresher than the Blues, who face Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.
That leaves Amorim no excuse if his side fails to get a positive result at home against the Club World Cup champions.