Manchester United endured a shocking 2-1 home defeat to relegation-battling Leeds at Old Trafford, their first league loss to the visitors since 1981. Noah Okafor scored twice in the opening 29 minutes, propelling Daniel Farke’s team to a strong start in United’s first match in 24 days.
Match Highlights
Lisandro Martinez received a red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair while chasing an equalizer, leaving United with 10 players. Casemiro later headed in a consolation from Bruno Fernandes’ cross at the far post, but it wasn’t enough to salvage a point. This marked only the second loss in 11 games under manager Michael Carrick.
Roy Keane’s Harsh Critique
Roy Keane delivered a scathing assessment of United’s midfield duo, Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte, calling their performance “non-existent,” especially in the first half. “They’ll be disappointed,” Keane stated. “They’ve had a lot of momentum over the last few months, [there’s been] a lot of praise for the manager. There’s obviously been concerns going into the game that they haven’t played for a number of weeks. But the manager, Carrick, said that shouldn’t be a problem, they’ve had a training camp.”
“But it was the way that they started the game – you start the game that slowly and it’s hard to recover. And they didn’t in the first half. And what you’ve got to do in this game – we saw Man City do it in the second half yesterday – you’ve got to run! They weren’t sprinting, United. And the bit at the end was too little too late. It’s a big setback for them. Midfield? Non-existent, the two of them, particularly in the first half, no energy, no quality. Leeds were out of the blocks quickly and it was a fantastic result for Leeds.”
Carrick Points to Referee Decisions
Carrick introduced Ugarte, standing in for the injured Kobbie Mainoo, alongside Casemiro, but the pair struggled as Leeds surged ahead. Post-match, Carrick highlighted referee Paul Tierney’s calls. “We didn’t start the game particularly well. We conceded, which came after Leny Yoro got a forearm smash in the back of his head,” he explained. “They didn’t decide to overturn that, which was a big moment in the game. We didn’t quite have the rhythm, we didn’t click. We had some moments but it wasn’t there for large parts of the half.”
“I thought the boys stayed positive and fought for everything in the second half, after a shocking decision to send Licha [Martinez] off. That’s two games in a row we’ve had those decisions go against us, but that one was one of the worst I’ve seen.”
