On Sunday Oct. 23rd Manchester United recorded the worst defeat in their history, by going down 6-1 to close neighbours and rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford.

This game was the most anticipated derby between the Manchester rivals for a while now, and fireworks were expected to ignite the sky—explosive would’ve been an understatement.

For years Man City had cowered in the shadows of the almighty Red Devils—Man Utd was and still is the name most and some would say, only associated with the city of Manchester with regards to football.

What happened on Sunday was not necessarily a changing of the guard, it was more a statement of intent by City—an emphatic one at that.

The defeat started with Mario Balotelli hitting the net in the 22nd minute of the first half.

In the second half Man Utd’s worst nightmare was about to be realized—Balotelli continued where he had left off, scoring City’s second on the 60-minute mark, before Sergio Aguero made it 3-0 on 69 minutes.

Man Utd, the comeback kings, scored on 81 minutes with a goal from Darren Fletcher.

However, there was to be no comeback as Edin Dzeko’s brace (90th and 93rd minute) and David Silva’s injury time goals (91st minute) put paid to that.

The rout was complete.

This was Man Utd’s most comprehensive defeat in 81 years—their heaviest defeat in the Premier League—their worst defeat at Old Trafford since 1955.

In the fewest possible words, it was a decimation.

Man Utd have experienced similar humiliations in the past, but not on the scale of the drubbing that they had to endure under City...

5. Manchester Utd 1-4 Liverpool

Mar. 14, 2009 at Old Trafford.

If Manchester City were Man Utd’s bitter rivals then Liverpool were their fiercest.

Both teams hated the other with a passion, and a win for either would more than put a smile on the face of the victors. It would be the supreme icing on the cake.

Well that fateful day, the honours for the icing and the cake went to Liverpool.

Apart from the score line, the match is also famous for Fernando Torres hounding and running Nemanja Vidic ragged for most of the time Vidic was on the field of play.

The Red Devils must’ve thought that their luck was in when they were awarded a penalty after Pepe Reina fouled Park Ji-Sung, and Cristiano Ronaldo converted the penalty.

Enter Vidic’s nemesis Torres—equalizing to make it 1-1.

Before the end of the interval Liverpool were awarded their own penalty due to Patrice Evra upending Steven Gerrard.

The score was now 1-2.

Worse was to follow when 15 minutes from time Vidic was sent off for a foul on Gerrard.

Fabio Aurelio converted the free kick to extend the visitor's lead.

Man Utd’s ordeal was finally over when substitute Andrea Dossena lobbed Edwin Van Der Sar in stoppage time, leaving the home team to lick their wounds.

4. Manchester City 4 -1 Manchester United

Mar. 14, 2004 at Maine Road.

Little did Man Utd know that seven-plus years later they’d be staring at defeat by their rivals, the likes of which they’d never known.

A week earlier Man Utd had been dumped out of the Champions League and City compounded their woes with a 4-1 thrashing.

Robbie Fowler started the rout with a 1-0 lead in the third minute of the first half.

A goal by Jon Macken put the home side further in front before Paul Scholes gave the visitors hope.

That was dashed with goals from Trevor Sinclair and Shaun Wright-Phillips putting an end to Man Utd’s misery.

3. Chelsea 5-0 Manchester Utd

Oct. 3, 1999 at Stamford Bridge.

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea ended Man Utd’s 29-game unbeaten run with a 5-0 goal blitz.

Man Utd’s error prone goal keeper Massimo Taibi didn’t help matters either—gifting the home side the early lead with a Gustavo Poyet header less than a minute into the first half.

Chris Sutton got his name on the score sheet and Poyet got his brace making it 3-0.

The humiliation was almost complete when Henning Berg slotted the fourth goal past his own goal keeper Taibi.

However the last rites were administered by Jody Morris who gave Chelsea the win and Man Utd’s second 5-0 defeat.

2. Southampton 6-3 Manchester United

Oct. 26, 1996 at The Dell.

They travelled to The Dell and were humbled for a second time.

Eyal Berkovic gave the home side a 1-0 goal lead.

What followed was Roy Keane sending off after just 20 minutes of the first half, and Man Utd’s utter capitulation ensued.

Egil Ostenstad scored a hat trick, Berkovic scored a brace and Matt Le Tissier re-enacted Newcastle’s Philip Albert’s lob—a majestic chip over Peter Schmeichel.

Less than a week earlier Man Utd had suffered a similar fate.

1. Newcastle United 5-0 Manchester United

Oct. 20, 1996 at St. James’ Park.

This was one of Man Utd’s worst ever defeats (on a par with the Chelsea and Southampton losses) prior to the mauling they suffered at the hands of City on Sunday.

A bitter feud had ensued between Sir Alex Ferguson and Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan, with Ferguson giving the aforementioned a master class in the mind games department.

Earlier on in the season Man Utd had slaughtered Newcastle, 4-0, in the Community Shield. The result had no impact of the preceding match though, as Newcastle exacted sweet revenge with a 5-0 annihilation of the Red Devils.

Goals from Darren Peacock, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer sealed Man Utd’s fate.

The final nail in the coffin came courtesy of Philip Albert’s wonderful lob of Peter Schmeichel in the 83rd minute to finish proceedings.

Keegan finally had something to smile about—and at the expense of Ferguson and Man Utd.

Honorary Mention: Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City

Oct. 23 2011 at Old Trafford.

It’s a day to forget.

As a Red Devil’s fan, I’m still in shock, but we’ll be back even stronger than ever.

NB: Six of Manchester United’s worst defeats have come in the months of October (four times) and March (twice).