Man United's Under-21s THRASHED 8-1 by League One Bolton in their EFL clash

Manchester United's Under-21s were humbled in their EFL trophy defeat to Bolton, as Wanderers thrashed the young United team 8-1.

While the Red Devils first team cruised to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace in the third round of the Carabao Cup, the club's youngsters were well and truly beaten by League One Bolton in their EFL Trophy Group E contest.

Ian Evatt made just four changes to the team that scraped a point against Peterborough at the weekend, to show his intentions of retaining the trophy that Bolton won last season with a resounding 4-0 victory over Plymouth at Wembley in May.

Evatt's team were too much for the young United team and chalked up their biggest competitive victory in 40 years with the comprehensive win.

Bolton had the game wrapped-up before half time thanks to two goals from Josh Sheehan, and strikes from Dan Nlundulu and Gethin Jones to see them go into the break four goals to the good.

Nlundulu notched his second just minutes after the restart before Wanderers added further goals from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and substitutes Nelson Khumbeni and Luke Matheson to complete the rout.

Matheson is no stranger to scoring against the Red Devils, having famously netted against United's first team as a 16-year-old whilst playing for Rochdale in 2019, in a game that the Premier League side eventually won on penalties.

United did pull one back and prevent Neil Baxter from claiming a clean sheet, when Omari Forsen scored midway through the second half, but it was scant consolation for Travis Binnon's side.

While their youngsters faltered in the EFL Trophy, Erik ten Hag's first team made light work of their first game in defence of the Carabao Cup.

Goals from Alejandro Garnacho, Casemiro and Anthony Martial saw them ease past