Ella Toon’s dream derby for Man Utd but nightmare for Man City keeper Khyra Keating
As United fans were cheering the Toon at one end of the pitch, City striker Vivian Miedema consoled goalkeeper Keating at the other end at the full-time whistle.
A derby defeat, another blow to City’s faltering WSL title challenge and a number of costly individual mistakes were a nightmare evening for 20-year-old Keating.
The England goalkeeper roared in frustration throughout. First, when his short pass to Leila Ouahabi led Toon to score the second goal to make it 3–0, and then when his clearance to Toon was blocked by Terland to make it 4–2. Found it just a few seconds after restarting City. Proceeding after finishing the first part of the ascent and descent.
Throwing his arms in the air and shouting towards the sky, it appeared that Keating’s evening couldn’t get any worse, but United fans taunted him behind his goal throughout the second half.
City boss Gareth Taylor said, “Time is a healer. She will heal, she will feel pain as we all do.”
“We win, lose and draw together as a team. There’s no individual fault. I think he must be feeling worse than this.”
It is not the first time Keating has made mistakes, but the young goalkeeper has made comebacks before – regaining his number one shirt and earning selection for England.
He left Meadow Park in tears when his late mistake cost Arsenal a 2-1 win in November 2023 and a costly mix-up in their FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Tottenham last year.
But Taylor believes Keating will bounce back, despite summer signing Ayaka Yamashita undoubtedly adding to the pressure to compete for her place.
“She’s proven before (that she can bounce back) and she’ll do it again. We never put the blame in any one direction so I think she’ll be fine in a few days,” the City boss said.
“As aggressive as United were, we played into their hands and we need to be better.
“Under my reign we’re not going to be a team that smashes the ball for long periods of time or play for long periods of time. Tonight there were times when there were spaces and we took advantage of them – but we need to be better in the execution of our goal kicks.” “Needs to happen.”
