WSL Briefing: City’s Khiara Keating had costly errors in the Manchester derby. Can she bounce back?

Twenty seconds into the second half of Sunday’s Manchester derby, Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her up.

Manchester United’s fourth goal had just hit the back of the net and the 20-year-old was initially lying with her face buried into the grass. It was when she rocked back onto her knees and looked up to the dark night’s sky above the Etihad that you could see the despair on her face. As her team-mates hurried back to the centre circle to take their second kick-off in thirty seconds, Keating screamed into the air.

Manchester City were 4-2 down and some of the blame could be put on Keating for almost all of the goals City conceded.

Toone opened the scoring after 14 minutes after some quality midfield play from Hinata Miyazawa. Leah Galton added a second seven minutes later, with Keating caught in no man’s land from a corner. Then, it was an intercepted Keating pass to Leila Ouahabi that allowed Toone to get her second of the game.

City’s first-half fightback meant they were only 3-2 down by half-time. But, as the second half began, the pass back from the centre circle to Keating was met with a heavy touch. As she tried to launch the ball, she was pressed by Elisabeth Terland. The ball ricocheted towards the goal, with Toone on hand to tuck it away into an empty net.

Despite a dominant second-half display from Manchester City — that goal was United’s only shot on target in the second half — they struggled to apply enough pressure to win the game. United were the victors and leapfrogged City into third place.

Focus understandably fell on City head coach Gareth Taylor and his decision to continue to play out from the back even when it was clear that Keating was struggling.

“We had some real problems with our build-up play in the opening exchanges,” admitted Taylor in his post-match press conference.

“The confidence levels for United grew because they felt they were going to get opportunities, and we didn’t execute well enough in an area that has been our strong point for us over the years.”

Keating’s stratospheric rise to become Manchester City’s No 1 last season was partly due to her calmness on the ball. Previous number 1 Ellie Roebuck fell quickly down the pecking order due to several costly errors. Keating’s impressive shot-stopping and ability with her feet earned her numerous plaudits as she went on to win the Women’s Super League Golden Glove award last season.

Her year was not without its costly moments, though, mainly due to her tendency to rush off her goal line.

In the closing moments of City’s game at Arsenal last season, Keating rushed off her line to meet a long ball from Arsenal full-back Katie McCabe. She misjudged the bounce, however, and Stina Blackstenius capitalised to finish into an empty net and hand Arsenal a 2-1 victory.

There was a similarly bizarre situation in City’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Tottenham where, in the final minute of the match, Keating came out of her penalty area to deal with a ball that City centre-back Laia Aleixandri appeared to have under control. The resulting mishap allowed Tottenham striker Bethany England to equalise, with Spurs going on to win on penalties.

These concerns may have been what prompted City to sign Japan’s No 1, Ayaka Yamashita, in the summer. The 29-year-old started City’s first six games of the season and seemed to be Taylor’s preferred first choice, but with Keating playing four of their final five matches before the Christmas break, and given the nod in the Manchester derby, she looked to have won her spot back.

“We win, lose or draw together as a team,” said Taylor about Keating’s errors. “We never push the blame in any direction.

“She’s proved (she can bounce back after an error) and she’ll do it again. She’ll be feeling a bit sore, like all of us, but she’ll be okay within a couple of days.”

Taylor insisted he never considered substituting Keating, even if after the fourth goal it looked like keeping her on the pitch might do more harm than good.

“We need to improve and she needs to believe. It’s hard when confidence is a little bit low,” Taylor said. “But that’s a bit of a double whammy. If you take a player off at that point, you are making the situation even worse.”

Keating was not solely at fault for City’s defending against United. The absence of captain Alex Greenwood, who suffered a medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury against Barcelona in December, is being keenly felt, with new signing Rebecca Knaak making her WSL debut on Sunday. Greenwood is not only a talismanic figure within City’s back line but she is essential to their build-up play. Like Greenwood, Knaak is left-footed but it will take her time to get up to speed.

Equally, Taylor made the point that City’s players should have blocked the runs from United that put Keating under pressure ahead of the fourth goal. The message out of City is clear — there are multiple factors for the defeat.

But Taylor has already shown he is willing to change his No 1. The situation with Roebuck, one of many players who have been frozen out at City, has shown he can be ruthless.

Taylor thrust Keating into the spotlight at the start of last season. He will have to decide whether now is the time to take her out of it.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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