Manchester United Legend Claims These Four Players Should Be Blamed For Derby Loss

Manchester United failed to make a strong impression in their highly-awaited match with Manchester City in the famed “Manchester derby” this weekend, and a Red Devils icon is making sure his thoughts are heard.

Roy Keane, a former club captain, ripped into his former team’s efforts in the midfield area after a lackluster second half saw Manchester City take the victory with a score of 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

“There were some players there as we were watching it live and I am looking at them and I am getting really frustrated watching them. They were not prepared to run around, a couple of lads in midfield, [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka, Fred, [Harry] Maguire, [Marcus] Rashford - I could go on,” Keane said as quoted by Sky Sports.

After conceding a goal to Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne in the fifth minute, summer transfer signee Jadon Sancho leveled the score 17 minutes later with a wonderful strike from just inside the penalty box.

However, that would be the end of Manchester United’s hopes at breaking through the Pep Guardiola-coached Manchester City.

De Bruyne would score his second goal at the 28th minute and winger Riyad Mahrez added two goals of his own in the Manchester City-dominated second half.

The Citizens dominated the game with possession-heavy football as they had control of the ball for 69% of the match which led to Manchester United’s putrid five shot attempts with only two being on target.

Keane then added that it seemed as if Manchester United had waved the white flag before the start of the second half and mentioned that the substitutes like Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford failed to make any sort of impact.

"It's no good having moments in games, the match is 90 minutes long and you've got to do it all game long. 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,” Keane disappointingly added.

The resurging Sancho and longtime Manchester United first-team goalkeeper David de Gea were the lone bright spots for a Manchester United side that looked defeated as soon as De Bruyne scored his brace prior to halftime.

Cristiano Ronaldo's absence was also questioned by Keane, noting that the Portuguese had rarely been injured throughout his career and suggested that there could be bigger things happening behind the scenes.

The loss pushed Manchester United down to fifth with 47 points in the English Premier League as rivals Arsenal passed them for fourth with a win over Watford with 48 points.

Manchester United’s season is quickly starting to unravel and they will need to prove their worth on the pitch when they welcome the Tottenham Hotspurs to Old Trafford on Saturday, March 12.