‘Looking at him’ – Roy Keane singles out Man United star after Aston Villa defeat in scathing verdict

Roy Keane singled out Diogo Dalot for criticism following Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

The former Red Devils captain was left seething by his former side’s effort levels at Villa Park and even suggested Dalot’s performance should be looked at by boss Ruben Amorim.

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Manchester United were undone by a superb double from Morgan Rogers who netted either side of Matheus Cunha’s strike for Amorim’s side.

The result saw Aston Villa claim a tenth consecutive victory in all competitions while United have won just twice in their last eight league outings.

What did Keane say about Dalot’s performance?

Keane took exception with Dalot’s output in the key moments of Sunday’s clash as well as a host of other United players.

The Irishman pinpointed Rogers’ first goal as a particular issue claiming Dalot and co did not read the obvious danger when the Aston Villa man shaped up to shoot.

“You can have all the talent in the world,” Keane told Sky Sports.

“We’ve mentioned it time and time again but you’ve got to roll your sleeves up and when the game gets a bit tight there’s moments where you go, ‘I’m just going to do my bit for the team’. There’s too many players, like Dalot, that just don’t do enough.

“I won’t use the word cheating but they’re not just doing enough. And after the game I’d be looking at him – I wouldn’t be looking at other bits of the game.

“Same for the first goal when Rogers gets the ball wide. We’re all sitting there and we know there’s danger. Do they not know there’s danger?”

Manchester United were missing a host of key names at Villa Park with Bryan Mbeumo, Amad and Noussair Mazraoui all on Africa Cup of Nations duty.

That saw academy stars Jack Fletcher and Shea Lacey both made their Premier League debuts and Dalot challenged the pair to take the opportunities in the absence of those on international duty.

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“This is the time when opportunities come for other players and you have to step up and show you deserve to be in the team and play more minutes,” Dalot told Sky Sports post-match.

“I think that’s how the players who get opportunities need to look at it.”

Adding injury to insult

United suffered a huge injury blow when captain Bruno Fernandes was forced off at half time at Villa Park with a hamstring issue.

Amorim confirmed in his post-match interview that Fernandes will be out of action ‘for a few games’ starting with the Boxing day clash with Newcastle at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese midfielder could also miss the visit of Wolves on December 30 and the trip to Leeds on January 4.

“It was a soft tissue injury so he will miss some games for sure,” the Manchester United boss said. “You can never control these things. He is a guy who is always fit so he can recover quite well.”

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Amorim also expected Kobbie Mainoo to miss the Newcastle game after he was ruled out of Sunday’s defeat through injury.

Asked if he may be forced to dip into the transfer market during next month’s window, Amorim said: “I’m not going to get together with (director of football) Jason Wilcox and (chief executive) Omar Berrada and say: “We need a lot of players.” Because we have a plan.

“If we have to suffer, the club comes first. Of course, we are in a moment where we need points but we need to find solutions and we are going to continue with our plan.

“You can feel in this moment that we are going to struggle, but we will see.”