Roy Keane criticised the form of Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens after a thrilling 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford, saying the Belgian's displays are 'hurting' the team.
Lammens endured another difficult game as Michael Carrick's side conceded four goals at home. He was nutmegged by Alysson inside two minutes and then could only parry a shot into the path of Nicolas Jackson, who doubled Villa's lead on four minutes.
United fight back twice
The writing appeared to be on the wall for under-fire manager Carrick, but United responded and were level at half-time thanks to Bruno Fernandes' penalty and Youri Tielemans' strike against his former club.
Aston Villa once again opened up a two-goal lead early into the second half, John McGinn scoring a penalty before Leon Goretzka poked home the visitors' fourth. But Manchester United scored two injury-time goals through substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu to avoid defeat and salvage an unlikely point.
Keane's verdict
Despite two spirited fightbacks, an eighth league game without a win leaves the Red Devils in the relegation zone heading into the November international break.
Former Manchester United captain Keane was left with mixed emotions after the game, criticising the poor defensive display but praising the team for showing 'a bit of fight and desire'.
'There have been question marks over this team showing a bit of fight, a bit of desire,' Keane told Sky Sports. 'And as bad as the game was from a football point of view they kept going until the end.
'They kept going, so you have to give them a little bit of praise. But in terms of the bigger picture it's that rollercoaster of watching United.
'Some bits were so, so bad. Defensively, the start to the first half, the start to the second half, but they found a way to get a point when they looked dead and buried.
'Ultimately nowhere near good enough to try to get towards the middle of the table. They can do a lot better than what they're doing. We saw evidence of that last year, when they went on the run they went in.
'They've lost Casemiro, an important, experienced player for them. They certainly should be doing a lot better.
'We go back to some of the basics. The way they're starting games, the way they're coming out for the second half. There are things they can improve on.
'They're probably lacking a bit of confidence but if you're giving up four goals at home, you make it so hard for yourself.
'When they were on a good run of results last year, the goalkeeper was doing very well, making a lot of big saves, he's not doing that. Bruno was on fire, he's not at his very best at the moment.
'The goalkeeper has to do better. It doesn't help if your goalkeeper isn't making saves, that hurts the team a lot.
'So there are some basic footballing reasons… but to be in the bottom three, playing for Man Utd… this should be hurting them.'
What's next
Following the November international break, Manchester United return to action with a trip to Anfield to face arch-rivals Liverpool. Aston Villa, who stay 10th after twice blowing a two-goal lead at Old Trafford, face relegation battlers Sunderland next.
