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05th Apr 2018

Roy Keane’s verdict on Manchester City will be music to the ears of Liverpool fans

Tony Cuddihy

Roy Keane Manchester United

Not even Roy Keane could fault Liverpool for Wednesday night’s performance. Manchester City, on the other hand…

If you’re a Liverpool fan, you won’t be able to smile wide enough this morning after Wednesday night’s dismantling of Manchester City at Anfield. Roy Keane, meanwhile, has torn into Manchester City.

Goals from Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mané mean the Reds will take a 3-0 lead to the Etihad Stadium next Tuesday, and Roy Keane had some stinging criticism for Pep Guardiola’s side after the game.

Speaking as a pundit for ITV, the Corkman did not hold back and denied that City can be regarded as “a great team”, despite their domestic form.

“There has been a lot of hype around this Man City team. Talk about them being a great team, but this was a reality check for this team,” said Keane.

“They have a lot to do before they can be regarded as a great team.

“It will be a hard game for the manager to analyse because they had a lot of possession, but possession doesn’t win you football matches.

“The Man City players will be shell-shocked. There is no way they could have visualised that they would be 3-0 down from the first leg. Even if the thought they would be in for a tough night, I’m sure they thought they’d score a goal.

“For all we have seen from them this season, City showed a real lack of quality, but give credit Liverpool for that.”

Of course, Keane wouldn’t be Keane without landing a passive aggressive dig at his old foes from Merseyside, stating Jürgen Klopp’s men will not be able to “believe their luck” after keeping a clean sheet against Kevin de Bruyne, Leroy Sané and co.

However, he was full of praise for the Reds’ midfield on the night.

“Great, great team performance from Liverpool,” stated Keane.

“They had a great start and Man City, we have seen it previous, Liverpool have the players who can hurt Man City, particularly on the counter attack.

“I thought the three players in midfield were outstanding. Milner, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain gave them that foundation to go on and win the game and I bet Liverpool can’t believe their luck to be 3-0 up.

“Okay, it will be a tough second leg, but Liverpool will fancy themselves to get an away goal and then the tie will be over.”