Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane accused Fred of "cheating" during the Red Devils' humbling 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola's side leapfrogged Liverpool back to the Premier League summit thanks to second-half goals from Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane.

Keane – who was working as a pundit for Sky Sports – was seething with Fred's role in Sane's goal, accusing the Brazil midfielder of failing to adequately track back after he had given the ball away.

"Look at Fred for the goal," he said. "That's not giving your all.

"It's cheating. What he done was cheating, letting the guy run off him.

"Fred sells himself short. He gives the ball away which can happen, but you do not let [Raheem] Sterling get goal side of you. You're in trouble from there. Why aren't there players trying to stop the shots?

"If the guy gets a shot away, fair enough, but get out to him like your life depends on it."

Fred has struggled in his debut season since joining from Shakhtar Donetsk and Keane's fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville does not believe he is cut out physically for the demands of the Premier League.

"He'll skip into challenges, get beat, people will go past him, sometimes he will win it, sometimes he won't," he said.

"For me, watching Fred all season, he commits into challenges, gets beat and he can't get back and recover. He's not got the legs."