Roy Keane told Manchester United they have to ‘take their medicine’ and accept Manchester City are miles ahead of them after a dominant derby win for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The visitors went ahead through Marcus Rashford but this was a game which City dominated and they ran out deserved winners in the end thanks to a brace from Phil Foden and a third from Erling Haaland.
For former United midfielder Keane, he felt City ‘toyed’ with United as if they were a wounded prize-fighter ‘in a boxing ring’.
‘I don’t want to be too hard on United because City were brilliant. They showed why they’re champions,’ Keane told Sky Sports.
‘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.
Manchester United were comfortably beaten by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium
Phil Foden (left) scored twice in a man-of-the-match display as United struggled to cope
‘The stats show you how dominant Man City were. [Erling] Haaland and [Kevin] 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 United.’
He added: ‘Manchester United will have to take their medicine today. It still leaves that question mark over where this United team are going.
‘In the last 25 minutes they couldn’t get anywhere near City, who toyed with them.
‘It was men vs boys in the end and they were just hanging in there. Towards the end, you’re thinking it could be four or five.
‘There’s still question marks of this team and unfortunately of the manager.’
Roy Keane believes it was a display that leaves plenty of questions on manager Erik ten Hag
Erik ten Hag looked to pack midfield and make United hard to break down.
Fans finished the game critical of the tactics, but another former United player felt it was the only way United could approach this game with some key players sidelined through injury.
Speaking to Premier League Productions, Paul Scholes said: ‘It’s probably the right result. Man City are a class above at the moment.
‘Man United knew that if they went toe-to-toe they would probably get beat, so they came to make it difficult.
‘They don’t have the players at the moment that are capable of beating Man City.’
