Manchester United legend Roy Keane surprisingly disagreed with Gary Neville after his former club teammate criticised Manchester City’s recent Champions League match against Copenhagen.
Manchester City took control of their round-of-16 Champions League tie after their 3-1 away win against Copenhagen in the first leg on Tuesday night.
Copenhagen reached the knockout stages of the competition after finishing ahead of Galatasaray and Manchester United in Group A of the Champions League.
Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring for City against Copenhagen, but Magnus Mattsson pulled back one for the hosts at the Parken in the first half.
However, United’s crosstown rivals restored their advantage through Bernardo Silva before half-time and Phil Foden scored for City in injury time in Denmark.
City have dominated the Premier League in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era and Pep Guardiola emulated the Red Devils’ treble win last season with the Manchester club.
However, Gary Neville didn’t pass up the opportunity to level some interesting criticism at City, which sparked an equally surprising take from Roy Keane.
Neville on Man City’s Champions League match
Speaking on the Stick to Football show, Gary Neville said that he “felt a bit bored” and didn’t watch Manchester City’s first-leg win over Copenhagen on Tuesday.
The United legend pointed to a post he saw from a Liverpool fan about wanting to watch Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams of the past compete in the Champions League.
According to Neville, the Reds supporter’s post highlighted that there would be a sense of excitement in a United match irrespective of the scoreline.
“I didn’t switch Manchester City [vs Copenhagen] on Tuesday night,” he said on The Overlap, before adding: “I felt a bit bored.”
Neville continued: “I saw a post from a Liverpool fan that said he watched every single one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United games in the Champions League because there was that feeling that there was always going to be excitement one way or the other – they’d lose or they’d win and the game would be exciting.
“You just can’t watch City – it’s almost like they’ve ruined it a little bit.
“To call City boring would be wrong because the football they play is outstanding, but I actually thought they were boring – I found it difficult to watch them.
“Since Erling Haaland’s gone [with an injury] they’re a bit more imperfect.”
Keane’s response to Neville’s criticism
City’s impact in both Europe and the Premier League has been felt, but Neville does make an interesting point with his ‘boring’ remarks about watching them play.
Even United fans felt that sense of excitement and dread of competing in the Champions League under former Red Devils manager Ferguson.
Even though Ferguson saw incredible success at Old Trafford, the legendary Scotsman was far from invincible against the different teams in Europe.
However, Roy Keane argued that City have been boring because they have been “brilliant” and admitted that he liked their “style of play” under Pep Guardiola.
Responding to Neville, he said: “[Man City are boring] because they’re so brilliant!
“I get where people are coming from, but I wouldn’t agree when fans say that about City [being boring] – they’re very technical, and the stats the other night are unbelievable. I know it was just FC Copenhagen, but they beat Manchester United.
“I admire that stuff – I admire when a team can dominate so much, whether it be possession, the players, their style. I like their style of play because of the brilliance of it.
“We watch a lot of teams who try and play possession and get nowhere, but they [City] are topping it off as well with winning and scoring goals.
“I’d give City the thumbs up. It’s obviously how we were at United, but I get the argument – even Liverpool in the last few years are a bit more emotional, get it forward quicker – but because they’re so technical and brilliant, I admire that.”
READ MORE: Join the conversation with the United in Focus Whatsapp group
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
