In the kind of upset that you can really only see in a multi-tier soccer system, Grimsby Town pulled off the impossible on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup.
The fourth-tier team, which currently sits in fourth place in the EFL’s League Two, stunned Manchester United at home in a match capped off by 13 penalty kicks. As soon as the final United PK bounced off the crossbar, the locals rushed the field.
Grimsby Town triumphed 12-11 on penalty kicks, after a regular time in which they took a 2-0 lead in the first half and then allowed United to tie it with goals in the 75th and 89th minutes.
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CBS Sports’ Nigel Reo-Coker called the result “the greatest upset of all time” as the Grimsby supporters continued celebrating.
Not everyone was happy, though. With tongue firmly in cheek, Grimsby goalkeeper Christy Pym quipped that he was “half-fuming” as a fan of United after the game.
Grimsby Town was hosting Manchester United in the second round of the Carabao Cup, in which every team in the English Football League (i.e. the top four tiers of the league system) competes. Grimsby Town’s League Two is the lowest level that takes part in the competition.
The beauty of competitions like this is you see some of the Premier League’s marquee teams sent to play in all corners of the country’s soccer system, no matter how small. For reference, Grimsby Town’s Blundell Park has a seating capacity of 9,052, which would be the seventh-largest stadium at the Double-A level of MLB’s minor leagues.
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Imagine if Appalachian State had beat Michigan at home.
Upsets like this one are fleetingly rare simply due to money. Grimsby Town’s wage bill last year was roughly one-third the size of United star Jadon Sancho’s salary… and half the size of United’s “traveling and entertainment costs.” Every player on the field for Grimsby Town will collectively make less this year than what their opponents made this week.
The result is about the worst omen Manchester United could have asked for after a 15th-place finish in the Premier League last season and an 0-1-1 start to this season. Their next game will come on Saturday, at home against Burnley.
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