“It was a good night out in Dublin.”
Christian Eriksen showed up in his flip-flops to accept his first ever man-of-the-match performance since his free transfer to Manchester United. Roy Keane had a few words for the Danish star.
Back in 2017, before Ireland took on Denmark in a crucial World Cup Qualifiers playoff, after drawing the first leg in Copenhagen. Ahead of the second leg, Eriksen was asked for his thoughts on an Ireland team coached by Martin O’Neill and his assistant, Roy Keane. The Dane said:
“If you have a team that wants to play and a team that doesn’t want to play, then the game will be dragged out. For them, 0-0 is probably a good result whereas we want to score goals and create chances.
“They will play the way they have in previous games, with a lot of people behind the ball so we’ll have to play quick and open up the game. We’ll probably get fewer chances than we have in some of our other games but we’ll look to create as many as we can.”
Some of us in Ireland felt the pre-match comments were disrespectful, but the Dane had clearly had it up to his eyeballs with playing against dogged, tireless Irish sides in qualifiers.
Many may have told themselves, ‘We’ll show him’. As it turned out, Christian Eriksen showed Ireland.
He scored a hat-trick as the Danes won 5-1 to reach the World Cup. Five years on and, even though he is a Manchester United player, Roy Keane had not forgotten that performance.
Christian Eriksen of Manchester United in action at Old Trafford. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Roy Keane ribs Christian Eriksen
Following Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Arsenal, Sky Sports’ host Dave Jones and his pundits were joined by Christian Eriksen on the Old Trafford touchline.
After giving his take on a couple of key moments in the game, it was the turn of Roy Keane to pose a question or two.
KEANE: I have no questions because I’m still upset over Dublin, when you scored for Denmark.
ERIKSEN: I thought so!
KEANE: I’m still upset with ya.
ERIKSEN: We had a good night out in Dublin after that win.
KEANE: I bet you did!
Keane 🗣 "I have no questions because I'm still upset over Dublin when you scored."
Eriksen 🗣 "It's a good night out Dublin."
Roy Keane has not forgiven Christian Eriksen for scoring against Ireland 🤣 pic.twitter.com/npTLgUFPbB
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 4, 2022
After playing a key role in all three Manchester United goals, Christisn Eriksen paid tribute to his teammates and coaches for righting the ship after opening league defeats to Brighton and Brentford.
Up next for Eriksen and United is some Europa League duty, before they travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace.
Related links:
- Rio Ferdinand suggests new Man United captain after Harry Maguire is dropped
- Roy Keane cracks classic joke as he recalls epic Man United vs Arsenal rivalry
- Stormzy gets the Roy Keane seal of approval on his punditry debut
