Keane Blasts Bayindir's 'Schoolboy' Error in Arsenal Defeat

Roy Keane and Micah Richards rowed over Altay Bayindir's role in Arsenal's goal against Man Utd (Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside, Offside via Getty Images)

Roy Keane blasted Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir over his role in Arsenal's goal at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The United goalkeeper was unable to deal with a first-half corner under pressure from William Saliba and Riccardo Calafiori nodded in on the line at the far post for what proved to be the only goal of the game at Old Trafford. It was a poor attempt from Bayindir to clear the ball away from the goal, with Declan Rice's in-swinging corner causing problems for the 27-year-old.

Speaking after the game, Keane had no sympathy for the Turkey international, who appealed for a foul. The Manchester United legend said on Sky Sports: "He has to come with violence, he's got to be aggressive, he's got to be almost saying to players, 'Come in here, I'm happy to deal with it'.

"But he's not strong enough. It's like schoolboy stuff. Don't look at the referee, take control of it."

Fellow pundit Micah Richards, though, argued Bayindir should have been better protected by his defence. "If you look at the balance between Saliba and [Mason] Mount, he's getting ragdolled everywhere," the former Man City defender said.

"I just thought [Matthijs] De Ligt could have come inside and Mount could have gone outside. I agree with Roy, Bayindir should have done a lot better, but when you've got bodies in front of you…"

That prompted Keane to interject, with the pair raising their voices to the apparent amusement of fellow pundit Daniel Sturridge. "The goalkeeper's on his heels, he should be on his toes. Saliba's doing very little to him," said Keane.

"The job of that player in that role is to protect the goalkeeper so he can come and punch it," hit back Richards. "There's a lot of chaos going on."

Keane had the final word, though. "This is big boy stuff. You can't babysit a goalkeeper. He should go and play chess," he said.

United dominated the chances but were unable to find an equaliser, and Keane did not share in optimism around the Red Devils' start to the campaign. "The expectations at United now are so low that even when Gary [Neville] is on commentary, everyone's even comfortable with a 1-0 defeat," he said.

"United have got to do better. It does worry me. Obviously, a couple of the new signings, a lot of encouragement with that. Getting up the pitch there was a bit more power.

"Obviously results are going to improve, it's always tough against Arsenal, but again no goal, another defeat. There's still problems there with United."

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal did not hit their own standards, but he was delighted with the way his players reacted to errors. "To come in the first fixture to Old Trafford with that atmosphere, the way they are building momentum with the new signings and the excitement around it, it’s top," said the Gunners boss on Sky Sports.

"It's a great feeling. Then we have to be really humble about the way we did it. We put a magnificent set-piece in and after because the way we reacted to mistakes. Mistakes that are very far from the standards we normally have and we constantly reacted in a really positive way."

On his new starters Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres, Arteta added: "Very happy with them. The ones that came in as well, I think they had a massive impact in the game. Some of them physically still they're not at the highest level and the way we need to get, but we'll get there."