Manchester United’s dismal destruction at the hands of Liverpool saw 450,000 Facebook fans desert them.
Two penalties from captain Steven Gerrard and a late strike from Luis Suarez condemned David Moyes’s United side to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat, their fifth at Old Trafford in the Premier League this season.
And fans hit back in their thousands as they reached for their laptops and tablets to leave the Old Trafford club’s social media.
The news that almost half a million supporters had turned away prompted a positive reaction on Twitter, with Bombay-based Alloysius D’souza insisting that it is a good thing for the club.
Almost half a million fans(450,000) have unliked the official @ManUtd FB page since the Pool defeat. Yaay the plastics are finally leaving!
— Alloysius D’souza (@alloyrocker) March 18, 2014
Fellow Twitter user Hasn’t Bin Laid @Hareyke also welcomed the news: “arsenal defectors going back to they (sic) club. real devils remain red.”
While the Red Devils still have the upper hand on social media with 43,773,807 fans, to Liverpool’s 16,779,716, the gap between the two could be set to fall as Moyes’s team continues to falter.
However, the Merseyside club are top dogs on Twitter with 2.44million followers, edging out United’s 2.07m.
Moyes had sympathised with supporters after the weekend’s poor performance.
“There’s disappointment for everybody – all the Manchester United supporters – that we didn’t get the result today, and disappointment about the goals and the way they were conceded,” Moyes told MUTV.
But the backlash to the North-West derby humiliation could worsen if United fail to turn around their season-defining Champions League last-16 tie with newly-crowned Greek champions Olympiakos tomorrow night.
The Red Devils need to overcome a two-goal deficit after Alejandro Dominguez and Arsenal loan star Joel Campbell condemned them to an embarrassing 2-0 defeat in Athens.
Michel’s Greek side wrapped up their 41st title, and 16th in 18 seasons, at the weekend after a 2-0 win over Atromitos gave them an unassailable 18-point lead with just five games remaining.
Main image courtesy of GiveMe Sport via YouTube, with thanks.