Roy Keane issues brutal 'men v boys' verdict to Man Utd after Man City defeat

Roy Keane believes Manchester United were fortunate to keep the scoreline at 3-1 against Manchester City, with the second-half like 'men v boys'.

United conceded three second-half goals at the Etihad on Sunday evening, falling to consecutive Premier League defeats and second derby-day loss of the season. Marcus Rashford had opened the scoring with a rifled effort on eight minutes but City dominated throughout and were rewarded for their superiority.

Phil Foden scored a wondergoal of his own 10 minutes after the break and the City academy graduate made it 2-1 with 10 minutes remaining. Pep Guardiola's team continued to dominate and Erling Haaland settled the score in added-time following Sofyan Amrabat's mistake in possession.

After taking an early lead and finding joy with additional counter-attacks, United offered next to nothing going forward from half-time and while Keane acknowledged City's superiority, he had some blunt words for United.

“I don't want to be too hard on United because City were brilliant,” Keane told Sky Sports. “They showed why they're champions. What City do is they find out all your shortcomings. There's no hiding place. It's like a boxing ring. They wore them down. The stats show you how dominant Man City were. Haaland and De Bruyne weren't at their best but then Foden steps up.

“I think it's more credit to Man City than being too critical of Man Utd. Manchester United will have to take their medicine today. Huge question marks for this team and the manager. Eleven league games they've lost. It's a scary stat. It was men v boys at the end. They were just hanging in there, making mistakes. It could have been four or five.”

Defeat has seen United lose ground in the race for Champions League football, having seen Tottenham and Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace and Luton Town respectively on Saturday. Erik ten Hag's side are now 11 points away from fourth and host Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday.