Manchester United suffered a 2-1 defeat to Leeds at Old Trafford and were blasted by Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane, who was left unimpressed by the “non-existent” midfield
Roy Keane slammed Manchester United’s “non-existent” midfield pairing of Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte after their stunning defeat to relegation-battling Leeds at Old Trafford.
Noah Okafor’s double secured Leeds a 2-1 triumph at Old Trafford in United’s first fixture for 24 days. The Leeds forward struck twice inside the opening 29 minutes in a scorching start for Daniel Farke’s outfit, who could have been further in front by half-time.
Lisandro Martinez was later dismissed for tugging Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair, leaving United down to 10 men as they chased a leveller. Casemiro pulled one back with a far-post header from Bruno Fernandes’ cross, but it wasn’t enough for United, who endured a home league loss to their rivals for the first time since 1981.
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It represented just their second setback in 11 fixtures under Michael Carrick’s leadership, but Keane delivered a scathing assessment. “They’ll be disappointed,” he said on Sky Sports. “They’ve had a lot of momentum over the last few months, [there’s been] a lot of praise for the manager.
“There’s obviously been concerns going into the game that they haven’t played for a number of weeks. But the manager, Carrick, said that shouldn’t be a problem, they’ve had a training camp.
“But it was the way that they started the game – you start the game that slowly and it’s hard to recover. And they didn’t in the first half. And what you’ve got to do in this game – we saw Man City do it in the second half yesterday – you’ve got to run!
“They weren’t sprinting, United. And the bit at the end was too little too late. It’s a big setback for them. Midfield? Non-existent, the two of them, particularly in the first half, no energy, no quality. Leeds were out of the blocks quickly and it was a fantastic result for Leeds.”
Carrick was forced to introduce Manuel Ugarte, who replaced the injured Kobbie Mainoo and partnered Casemiro in United’s engine room.
They got off to a lethargic start as Leeds exploded from the gate, though Carrick opted to focus on referee Paul Tierney’s decisions when speaking to reporters following the clash, reports the Express.
The United boss felt Leny Yoro had been fouled by Calvert-Lewin before Okafor’s opener and argued Martinez shouldn’t have seen red for his confrontation with the Leeds forward.
“We didn’t start the game particularly well. We conceded, which came after Leny Yoro got a forearm smash in the back of his head,” he said.
“They didn’t decide to overturn that, which was a big moment in the game. We didn’t quite have the rhythm, we didn’t click. We had some moments but it wasn’t there for large parts of the half.
“I thought the boys stayed positive and fought for everything in the second half, after a shocking decision to send Licha [Martinez] off. That’s two games in a row we’ve had those decisions go against us, but that one was one of the worst I’ve seen.”