ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR... DONS’ SECRET IS NO MORE
WHEN you’re trying to stay out of the headlines, demolishing Premier League giants Manchester United 4-0 probably isn’t the best way to go about it.
“Before the season, nobody was expecting us to go that well,” says MK Dons defender Kyle McFadzean. “And we’re loving that. Because we know we’ve got a great team and we’ve been trying to keep it quiet. That’s going to be a bit hard now.”
Indeed it is. Tuesday evening’s destruction of the men from Old Trafford sent shockwaves through football as a team featuring six full internationals was humiliated and outclassed by a League One side of just ten years’ vintage.
A packed Stadium:MK enjoyed the finest night in its history with two goals apiece from Will Grigg and Benik Afobe heaping yet more misery on United manager, World Cup semi-finalist Louis van Gaal.
“We could hardly believe it ourselves,” said McFadzean, a summer signing from Crawley Town.
“When we were walking off, me and Dean Lewington looked at the scoreboard and just laughed. I said, ‘Have we really just played Man United?’
“Yes, they made a few changes but they still had Danny Wellbeck, Javier Hernandez, Adnan Januzaj, Nick Powell. ”
For McFadzean, battering the former European champions was nothing new. In February 2011, he was part of the Crawley side that took on United at Old Trafford in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Then still a Confer- ence side, the Sussex minnows more than held their own in a narrow 1-0 defeat that saw Alex Ferguson forced to bring on Wayne Rooney.
“We were really unlucky that day,” recalls McFadzean. “We only lost 1-0 and even hit the post right at the end.
“But Tuesday night was special, not just for me but for the club.That’s the first time they’ve had the stadium full and it just shows the potential – everything is ready to move on.”
The 27-year-old delivered a harsh verdict on United’s Mexican striker Javier Hernandez – scorer of 59 goals in 153 games for the Reds.
“That’s twice I’ve been up against Hernandez,” says McFadzean. “He’s a Premier League player, an international. But you can understand why he doesn’t play every week for United. I just don’t think he’s got the kind of pace to really worry defenders.”
CHRIS DUNLAVY