Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suffered his “worst day as Manchester United manager” on Sunday as his side were humiliated 6-1 at home by Tottenham.
United scored first but were blown away by Spurs before and after Anthony Martial was sent off, as they suffered their joint worst Premier League loss.
The result leaves Solskjaer’s side in 16th place in the table.
“We have contributed a lot to our own downfall,” said Solskjaer, who played for the club before becoming manager.
“To explain now is quite difficult. We have been beaten 6-1 at home by a very good side.
“It is the worst day of my career as Manchester United manager and the worst day for all of them as United players.
“It is not the worst day in Manchester United history, we have bounced back before.”
Striker Marcus Rashford tweeted after the game: “I’m proud to wear this shirt but there are no excuses, it’s just not good enough and to every single fan around the world that tuned in today, I’m just so sorry.
Bruno Fernandes put United ahead from the penalty spot, but Tottenham turned the game in their favour with goals from Tanguy Ndombele and Son Heung-min.
Martial’s red card for lashing out at Erik Lamela was followed soon after by a strike from Harry Kane before Spurs ran riot, with Son and Serge Aurier scoring before Kane added the sixth from the penalty spot.
“Sometimes you make mistakes, that’s part of life and we made too many mistakes in one game of football and that shows in the result,” said Solskjaer, who felt Martial deserved to be sent off but was also unhappy with the manner of Lamela’s reaction.
“The red card makes a lot of difference but Anthony Martial, well done for staying up when he was struck by the arm of Erik Lamela, you don’t react but he hit his throat with two fingers, gave him a little slap and Lamela must be having an operation. If that was my son, I know what I would tell him.
“Anthony knows he should not react like that, the good thing is he did not go down but if he did maybe the other lad would be sent off.
On the other side, Liverpool created the “wrong type” of history as they were thrashed by Aston Villa, says Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.
The Reds lost 7-2 and are the first reigning champions to concede seven goals in a league game since Sunderland beat Arsenal 7-1 in September 1953.
Ollie Watkins scored a hat-trick and Jack Grealish had a hand in five goals as Villa inflicted only Liverpool’s fourth league loss since January 2019.
This was the first time since April 1963 that Liverpool conceded seven goals in a match (7-2 v Spurs)
“It looked like we lost the plot after it went to 1-0,” Klopp said.
Liverpool won their first title in 20 years last season as they finished 18 points clear of Manchester City.
Klopp’s side did not lose their first match last season until a shock reverse against Watford at the end of February but four games into the new campaign they were on the wrong end of one of the most incredible results in Premier League history.
Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s two goals – to make it 2-1 and 5-2 – but they were run ragged by Dean Smith’s side at Villa Park.
“Who wants to lose 7-2?” Klopp said. “Years ago we told ourselves we wanted to create history. That was history but obviously the wrong type.
“We had big chances which we did not use, but when you concede seven I’m not sure you can say it would have been 7-7.
“We made too many mistakes and massive ones obviously. It started with the first goal and around the goals we made massive mistakes.
“We lost balls in the wrong area and did not protect properly. It looked like we lost the plot after it went to 1-0. It is not an excuse.
“Normally you can be 1-0 down and do the stuff you want to do. We created but did not protect ourselves properly so each ball we lost was a massive counter attack.
“That is why we conceded and three goals were deflected. It’s unlucky but it is not a coincidence because it means it was not a proper block. There is nobody to blame apart from me and us.”
First-choice keeper Alisson was missing through a shoulder injury – with his replacement Adrian gifting Villa their opener.
Klopp revealed that the Brazil keeper is unlikely to return to fitness immediately after the international break.
“It’s long,” he said. “Too long for the next few games for sure. It looks like a few weeks but we will see.”