Keane defends Foden and labels Fernandes 'the violent one' after Manchester derby red card

Roy Keane placed the blame squarely on Bruno Fernandes after Phil Foden received a straight red card for violent conduct in Sunday’s Manchester derby, insisting the Manchester United captain was fortunate to escape punishment of his own.

The flashpoint arrived midway through the first half when Fernandes caught Foden with a tackle and, as the City midfielder lay on the ground, appeared to kick him in the back. Foden reacted by swinging both feet into Fernandes’ stomach, a moment referee Michael Oliver immediately punished with a red card — a decision upheld by VAR despite Foden’s visible disbelief.

“To me, Bruno is the one who’s violent here,” Keane said while analysing the incident. “I have to call it out. I called Kyle Walker out a few years ago when he went down with a headbutt. Listen, we see violence, I suppose, in a different way. But I don’t think that’s a red card for Foden.”

Keane’s former United team-mate Gary Neville took a harder line on Foden’s reaction during commentary, though he too felt Fernandes warranted a booking. “I thought it was a yellow for Fernandes,” Neville said. “I’d have liked it not to be a red for Foden, but once you kick someone in the stomach you’re done.”

The dismissal left City a man down for the majority of the contest and immediately shifted the dynamic of one of English football’s most high-profile fixtures. The episode is likely to draw further scrutiny over VAR’s handling of the sequence, given that Fernandes’ initial kick — which Keane described as the catalyst — went unpunished while only Foden’s retaliation was deemed worthy of a red card.