Manchester United suffered a stunning 2-1 defeat to relegation-battling Leeds at Old Trafford, with former captain Roy Keane delivering a scathing assessment of the midfield duo Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte.

Leeds’ Blistering Start Secures Victory

Leeds striker Noah Okafor scored twice in the first 29 minutes, giving Daniel Farke’s team a commanding lead in United’s first match in 24 days. Lisandro Martinez received a red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair while chasing an equalizer, leaving United with 10 players. Casemiro pulled one back with a header from Bruno Fernandes’ cross at the far post, but it wasn’t enough. This marks United’s first home league loss to Leeds since 1981 and only their second defeat in 11 games under Michael Carrick.

Keane’s Damning Midfield Critique

Keane described United’s midfield as “non-existent,” particularly Casemiro and Ugarte, who started together with Ugarte filling in for the injured Kobbie Mainoo. “They’ll be disappointed,” Keane stated on Sky Sports. “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.”

He continued: “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 substituted in Ugarte alongside Casemiro, but Leeds dominated early. Post-match, the United manager 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,” Carrick said. “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.”