“They’ve all made wrong decisions” – Roy Keane blasts 3 Manchester United stars for switching off early on in FA Cup final loss
Manchester United legend Roy Keane lambasted Fred, Christian Eriksen, and Casemiro for their role in Manchester City's opening goal. Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring for the Cityzens at Wembley after only 13 seconds.
The German midfielder passed the ball back to Stefan Ortega from the kick-off. He then scored a sumptuous volley from outside the box from the same move within 13 seconds.
While Keane acknowledged the quality of the supreme strike, he was critical of Fred, Eriksen, and Casemiro's roles. The Irishman claimed that the trio switched off defensively. Speaking on ITV, Keane said (via Metro):
"It’s a brilliant strike, a brilliant goal. But defensively I think United were switched off. I would be really critical of the three midfielders – Casemiro, Fred and Eriksen – they’re all in wrong position and they’ve all made wrong decisions 10 to 12 seconds into a game."
Keane further said:
"Not good enough from experienced players. They were really switched off, it’s poor from Manchester United."
Bruno Fernandes restored parity in the first half from the penalty spot. However, Gundogan struck from outside the box yet again early in the second half. While his effort was a scruffier one this time, they all count the same.
City won the FA Cup and took a major step towards completing the treble. They will next play Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final on June 10 at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.
Bruno Fernandes reacted to Manchester United's defeat
Manchester United couldn't complete their first domestic Cup double in history. While they won the Carabao Cup, United fell short of City in the FA Cup final. Fernandes, scorer of Manchester United's solitary goal reacted to the defeat.
The Portuguese told BBC after the match:
“Everyone is down and it’s really difficult. We wanted to end the season in a different way but it wasn’t possible. We’ve made big steps for next season, it wasn’t a successful season overall but it was a good one. We have come back next season and try to win bigger trophies."
Fernandes added:
“We came back into the game, we started badly but came back into it and had good spells on the ball in the first half. After we scored, we had some good counters but didn’t score. We conceded early in the second half and then still had other chances but we didn’t and City deserved the win."
Bruno Fernandes ends the season with 14 goals and 15 assists to his name in 59 matches across competitions. He remains an integral player for Manchester United under Erik ten Hag.