Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United travelled across the city to face an out-of-sorts Manchester City on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League and Roy Keane, amid the half-time break, blasted Kyle Walker after tempers flared between the Englishman and Rasmus Hojlund in the first half.
Ahead of the all-Manchester affair getting underway, the former Sporting CP chief shocked fans as neither Marcus Rashford nor Alejandro Garnacho were named in the matchday squad. Amad and Mason Mount were chosen to operate in the 'inside forward' roles as Amorim's theme continues.
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Former midfielder Roy Keane – who was on punditry duty for Sky Sports ahead of kick off – insisted that Amorim must have seen something he’s not a fan of, whereas the recently installed head coach explained that it was merely for squad selection purposes.
In the two clubs' 195th meeting since their respective formations, neither club entered in domineering form. Pep Guardiola's side had won just once in their last 10 outings across all competitions, while the Red Devils were headed into the affair on away soil after back-to-back losses to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
After a slow start from both, Josko Gvardiol opened the scoring in the 36th minute, heading in a scrappy deflected cross but the needle of such an important game, however, came in an off-the-ball incident when Walker and Hojlund clashed just outside the City 18-yard box.
The former fouled the latter before the young Dane, one of the best young players in world football, approached him in frustration. With their heads barely touching, Walker hit the floor in an attempt to get Hojlund sent off.
hojlund walker
Referee Anthony Taylor, after defusing the ever-growing situation inside the home side's half, gave both players yellow cards for their involvement in the collision and the resulting melee between both sets of players. The game, therefore, continued without either star being shown their marching orders.
Keane, at half-time, lambasted the seasoned defender for his behaviour by saying: "I would have given a red card to Walker [for the altercation with Hojlund]. You don't mind a bit of this, this is going to happen in the game, a bit of argy-bargy.
"Of course it's a foul, it's a free-kick and it's fine. Hojlund's not happy and he goes over. Walker must be embarrassed to go down like that - an experienced player. Look at this! I don't know the guy and I'm embarrassed for him."