Roy Keane: 'Man City is playing with Man Utd like in boxing'

According to former midfielder Roy Keane, Man City looked for weaknesses, teased, exhausted Man Utd and then delivered decisive blows at the end of the match like in a boxing match in the 3-1 victory in the Premier League.

"I don't want to be too harsh on Man Utd because Man City were so good. They showed why they are champions," Keane commented on Sky Sports . "What Man City do is find every flaw in you. There is no hiding place, it's like in the ring. Man City exhausted Man Utd. In the last 25 minutes, Man Utd were playing around and couldn't get close to Man City players. It was a fight between men and children. At the end of the game, you thought Man City could score four or five goals."

At the Etihad Stadium on March 3, Man Utd only had 26% possession, three shots with one on target - compared to 27 and 8 for the home team. The "Red Devils" took the lead thanks to Marcus Rashford's masterpiece in the 8th minute, but let Man City score three goals and win in the second half.

Man City midfielder Phil Foden dribbles between striker Rashford and defender Linderlof during the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium on March 3. Photo: AP

This result means Man Utd have received a series of bad statistics. It is the first time Man Utd have lost a Premier League match in which they led at half-time since a 3-5 reverse to Leicester in September 2014, ending a 143-match unbeaten streak, including 123 wins and 20 draws.

Man Utd suffered their 11th defeat in the Premier League this season, only missing their worst record of 12 defeats in the 2013-14 and 2021-22 seasons. Meanwhile, Man City have won both matches against Man Utd in the Premier League for the sixth time, with half of those coming under manager Pep Guardiola, including the 2018-19, 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons.

Keane believes Man Utd have suffered since replacing Jonny Evans with Willy Kambwala, raising questions about the quality of the Red Devils' current squad and the future of coach Erik ten Hag. "The problem is that Man Utd only rely on moments and counter-attacks. When a lot of money is invested, the club needs more than that," the former Irish midfielder said.

Meanwhile, Gary Neville sees the two matches between Man Utd and Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals on March 17 and the Premier League on April 7 as potentially deciding Ten Hag's future. The Englishman stressed that the Dutch coach will be judged on these matches, and billionaire Jim Ratcliffe will not wait until the end of the season to make a decision on his coaching staff. However, Neville believes that the "Red Devils" have not lost hope of finishing in the top 4 of the Premier League.

On Premier League Productions , Paul Scholes said that Man City are on a completely different level than Man Utd and the result reflects the true strength of the two teams. "Man Utd know that if they play fairly, they will be defeated, so they try to make things difficult. Man Utd currently do not have the players capable of beating Man City," the former England midfielder commented.

Hong Duy

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