The official Manchester United Supporters’ Club in Malta was bulging at the seams with about 500 fans on Wednesday evening. They had struck an agreement with United to have the Carling Cup third-round tie against Coventry City, which was not being shown on television in England, screened live and most present were as eager to catch a glimpse of their favourite player as they were their favourite team.

Not Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, or, for that matter, Gary Neville, the United captain, who spends much of his spare time on the Mediterranean island and has a football school there as well as his own plush residence, but Michael Mifsud.

The Coventry and Malta striker is as popular in his homeland as David Beckham and, as Joseph Tedesco, the vice-president of the supporters’ club – the biggest outside Manchester – explained, loyalties were somewhat split as the teams prepared to kick off at Old Trafford. “To give you an analogy, everyone wanted Michael to score a hat-trick, but for United to win 4-3,” Tedesco said yesterday.

Few could have envisaged what would follow, but as disappointing as a youthful United’s 2-0 defeat by Coventry was, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s supposed stars of tomorrow falling well short of what is expected of them, Mifsud at least ensured that the Maltese had something to smile about after claiming both goals.

For a player who has yet to start a league match for Coventry this season, it was some achievement, but, surprisingly, the former Maltese Sports Personality of the Year was still left nursing some regret.

The last opposition player to score a hat-trick at Old Trafford was Ronaldo, the Brazil striker, in Real Madrid’s 4-3 defeat by United in April 2003, and, having hit a post with a sumptuous backheel and missed an open goal eight minutes from time, Mifsud was contemplating what might have been yesterday.

“It is my only regret,” the 26-year-old, who scored twice in the previous round against Carlisle United, said. “I would really like to have scored the one at the end, or the one that hit the post, but I am really happy for myself and the team.

“It was the biggest night of my career. There are a lot of Man United fans in Malta, but I still think they will be happy for me. It is probably the biggest achievement by a Maltese player in English football.

“I have a lot of friends who are United fans and most of Malta would have been watching the game, but everybody wished me luck and I think they wanted me to do well; above United.”

Mifsud, who joined Coventry in January on a free transfer from Lillestrom, the Norwegian club, spent three weeks training with United a few years ago, but, while he may not have caught the eye of Ferguson, the manager could have been forgiven for wondering whether he should have taken a chance on the player nicknamed “Mosquito” rather than some of those who lined up against him.

Barely any of the youngsters on show emerged with any credit, while the performance of Anderson, who was signed for a projected £20.4 million from FC Porto in the summer, will have been of particular concern to Ferguson. The Brazil playmaker has been touted as one of his country’s outstanding prospects, but in three senior appearances, the 19-year-old has looked off the pace.

While Anderson is expected to come good in time, Lou Macari, the former United striker, raised question marks about the credentials of many of those who played against Coventry and suggested that Ferguson could do worse than to send most of them out on loan.

“Sir Alex put a lot of trust in his young players, but they let him down,” Macari said. “They are supposed to be part of United’s future, but they should have learnt more by now. Many of them are liable to be going out on loan in January because we all know this defeat just wasn’t good enough.”