Manchester United legend Roy Keane appeared to encourage Rasmus Hojlund “to cheat” in order to win a penalty against Manchester City.
The Red Devils suffered a gruelling 3-0 loss at Old Trafford to the reigning Premier League champions on Sunday. They were out-fought and out-thought by their local rivals, even when it came down to what is considered the ‘dark arts’ in football.
United’s difficult task became infinitely harder when City were awarded a soft penalty mid-way through the first-half, with Rodri complaining of a pull back in the box by Hojlund. Referee Paul Tierney decided to award a spot-kick after reviewing the incident on the monitor, before Erling Haaland converted the penalty.
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But Hojlund had his own opportunity to win a penalty after breaking through on goal. The Dane was knocked off balance by the arm of John Stones but didn’t go down in the City box.
He then avoided contact with Stones’ leg before hopping over the trailing leg of goalkeeper Ederson and knocking the ball too wide. And Sky Sports pundit Keane believed there was a degree of inexperience by Hojlund to be overly honest and not initiate contact in order to receive a spot-kick and get his side back into the game.
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Keane said: “Hojlund does well with Stones putting him under pressure. I think he has to go down for a penalty – I’m not saying for players to cheat, but we see it all the time.
“If he actually falls into the goalkeeper and kicks into the goalkeeper, I think it’s a penalty.”
One fan on X suggested that Keane was telling Hojlund to “cheat”. But others on social media agreed with Keane’s words, with one user writing: “Hojlund should have waited for John Stones to initiate contact and get him sent off. Dark arts but worth it in a derby…”
Another tweeted: “Stones arm across Hojlund. Only difference is he didn’t fall over,” while a third added: “He should've gone down seeing how happy VAR is today handing out penalties for minimal intent.”
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