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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Roy Keane slams Manchester United players' egos and 'rubbish statements' after Man City defeat

Roy Keane slammed Manchester United's players following their 4-1 defeat to arch rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Two goals apiece from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez either side of the half-time interval were enough to secure a comfortable victory for City. United, following De Bruyne's fifth-minute opener, did get themselves back on level terms when Jadon Sancho netted a brilliant equalsier midway through the first-half.

However, that was as good as it got for United, as City got their noses back in front just six minutes later through De Bruyne's second. Mahrez's second-half brace sealed the victory once and for all, although United failed to lay a single glove on their rivals ahead of Mahrez netting his first goal of the game.

READ MORE: Manchester United player ratings as Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka poor vs Man City

United, as the contest wore on, displayed poor leadership and, ultimately, gave up, with City passing the ball around under almost zero pressure. It was a shambolic second-half display, featuring no shots on goal, and Keane laid into United's players.

He slammed their egos and suggested that they have got their priorities wrong. He also urged them to react on the pitch, opposed to issuing statements on social media as a way of an apology.

"It's no good having moments in games, the match is 90 minutes long and you've got to do it all game long," Keane told Sky Sports. "I don't think the manager [Ralf Rangnick] could have done too much differently, but by the time the substitutes came on, the fight was over.

"I don't know who's running that dressing room. Look at [Harry] Maguire, he had a poor game. Is he having battles with [Cristiano] Ronaldo for the captaincy and all these things?

"Egos come into it, you leave egos at the front door, these guys are all about 'how am I looking? Are my boots nice? Is my hair looking good?' Play the game!

"You're at Man United. We were looking at the fans behind the goal and they knew, they're not daft, this team we're supporting have given up.

"We'll hear a load of rubbish over the coming days, and we have heard it before. There will be statements, saying: 'Sorry about that, we'll try it again next week'.

"It's what you do on the pitch that interests me, not all the other garbage."

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