If playing a football match at Old Trafford is the stuff boyhood dreams are made of, what does scoring a brace at the Theatre of Dreams represent?

On this day 10 years ago, Michael Mifsud netted twice to stun Manchester United and knock them out of the Carling Cup. 

The Red Devils had just beaten Chelsea a few days earlier, and Sir Alex Ferguson rang the squad changes as they faced Championship side Coventry FC on home turf. 

But a United team which featured a young Gerard Pique as well as £17 million summer signing Nani could not handle the verve of the Malta striker, nicknamed 'Mosquito' by his fans. 

More than 74,000 fans, including more than 11,000 travelling Coventry supporters, watched as Mifsud opened the scoring after 27 minutes and doubled his tally on 70 minutes. He even had a chance to seal his hattrick after United keeper Tomasz Kuszczak parried the ball into his path, but was unable to hit the target for the third time. 

"It's a game which I'll remember for the rest of my life," Mifsud told Times of Malta earlier today. "It gave me a lot of confidence and it was a reward for all the sacrifices I made." 

Mifsud, who has scored a record 40 goals in 127 international appearances for Malta, expressed hope that other local players would follow in his wake. 

"I hope from the bottom of my heart that others will get to experience what I did. My message to young players is 'never give up'," he said. 

Mifsud would go on to score 17 goals in 40 appearances that season, finishing it as Coventry's top scorer by some distance. Two of those goals came on another memorable night against Blackburn Rovers, as the Sky Blues knocked them out of the FA Cup. 

Manchester United went on to rebound strongly from that humiliating September night, pipping Chelsea to both the Premier League crown and Champions League. 

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