Roy Keane was fiercely critical of Manchester United defender Luke Shaw during their 3-0 derby day defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday. Shaw was beaten by the tricky Jeremy Doku in the build-up to Phil Foden’s opening goal in the 18th minute. Shaw, starting on the left side of Ruben Amorim’s back three, stood off the Belgian but was still unable to stop the winger dribbling past him into the box.
After Manuel Ugarte blocked Doku’s first attempt to square to Foden in the penalty area, the City midfielder guided a header into the far corner from the second cross. And an exasperated Keane laid the blame for the first goal squarely at the feet of Shaw. He said during the Sky Sports panel’s half-time analysis: “Very good from City, Doku and Foden, timing is perfect. But United’s defending… the two midfielders are too square and Shaw just gives up.
“It’s a nice bit of skill [from Doku], but Shaw is an England international player with hundreds of games under his belt. He doesn’t get his body position right. It’s far too easy. It’s like he’s thrown the towel in. We know people can run off the back of Bruno Fernandes, that’s been going on for years.
“But my goodness, even before that, you’ve got two midfielders that are too square. One pass takes them out. If one midfielder goes, the other just tucks in. Far too easy. United have got all the numbers back but Shaw just throws the towel in.”
Keane’s former United team-mate Gary Neville, commentating on the match for Sky Sports, said: “I said it’s the perfect day for Phil Foden to reintroduce himself. Questions have been asked for club and country. Foden just has to guide the header. He has to be there, he has to be arriving, and he is.
“The initial work from Doku is absolutely fantastic. The ball lands back at his feet and he pops the ball back into a really good area. It was a really good move from City. Doku has had a really good start to the game.”
Shaw was later partly culpable for City’s second goal after Erling Haaland raced in behind the United backline. The Norwegian easily held off the England left-back to lift beyond Altay Bayindir to double the hosts’ advantage.
Haaland went on to make it 3-0 in the 68th minute when dire United defending gave the centre-forward an abundance of time and space in a one-vs-one with Bayindir, which he made the most of. That was the way the match ended to leave United, with four points, 14th in the table while City rise to eighth with six points from a possible 12.