Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville laughed off some cheeky remarks made by Micah Richards following Sunday’s Manchester derby.
The derby got off to a perfect start after Marcus Rashford struck a sublime 25-yard strike past Ederson in the eight minute.
United continued to perform well for the first 60 minutes, but it was only a matter of time before City clawed their way back into the game because the Reds were trying to soak up all of the pressure Pep Guardiola’s side inflicted on them.
The 3-1 defeat means United remain in sixth place, 11 points adrift behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Gary Neville was reluctant to stick the boot in on his former club. He was pressed by fellow footballer turned pundit Micah Richards, who was keen to press his colleague further about United’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Neville asked host Kelly Cates (via The Mirror): “’Is he [Richards] winding me up here?’”
The former right-back added: “Some games after United, I’ve thought, ‘What the hell is that?’ At least today I saw that there was a plan and there was real attention to detail on how they were going to defend.
“So today I think is something you can buy into more in terms of how they looked because sometimes in the last few weeks you think, ‘What they doing? Where are they all?’”
Neville was also joined in the studio by Roy Keane, who had a different take on the 192nd Manchester derby. The former Republic of Ireland international argued that acceptance of such a performance and result proves that the standards have dropped at United.
Keane said: “But that’s where the standards have dropped. You’re almost praising them, they’ve lost. The reason you’re at Manchester United is to perform in the big games and to compete against Man City and Liverpool. But no, we’re sitting here going, ‘I thought they done alright, better shape.’ They got beaten 3-1 and the last half an hour they were just hanging in there, they couldn’t get in a kick.”
The Irishman was also asked about United’s top four chances. He replied: “It is going to be very difficult. You look at the whole season and this team seems to be all about moments. When you have invested that money and the quality that they have, you feel like they need a bit more than that.
“The games we have looked at over the last few months, we just haven’t seen that consistent performance. We keep saying about Man United, they are digging results out, but eventually that catch up with you. For Man United and the bigger picture, you need more.”
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