Roy Keane and Ian Wright both lamented Andy Carroll after his reckless lunge saw him sent off for Reading as they lost at Manchester United.
The Championship outfit were firm underdogs as they travelled to Old Trafford and their task was made harder when they were reduced to ten men in the second half. Carroll was given his marching orders after 65 minutes having picked up two yellow cards.
Reading eventually lost 3-1 and were 2-0 down when they saw Carroll walk down the tunnel. The hosts went three goals up but the ten men pulled one back as Amadou Salif Mbengue nodded home from a corner. Keane, Ian Wright and Jobi McAnuff all had their say as they took aim at the former Newcastle striker.
Keane said in the ITV studio: "Ex-Liverpool, sometimes that plays on your mind, you're up there not getting great service. Still for an experienced player, it is fine for me never getting sent-off, but a bit more discipline."
Wright added: "There was one where he smashed into Eriksen which I thought was a booking as well. I’m just thinking to myself why are you going in like you are? Simply because they need you to be that focal point."
McAnuff went on to say: "We spoke before the game about that experience, those older players coming out and helping the younger ones. When you're on a yellow you cannot go sliding on the ground like that. There's only one thing that's going to happen, he's not in control and it just makes the job even harder."
Reading boss Paul Ince conceded that his side were arguably more of a threat once Carroll had left the pitch as he made his pride known. He told the BBC: "I'm very proud of the players. As a player here for six years I know how tough it is to come here and play in front of their fans on full song. It was great to score a goal. It was about making our fans proud. We thought they were going to play a weakened side.
"When we saw their team we thought oh oh. We should have scored in the first half. We have a tough one at home against Watford. We want to stay in the league. At times we were probably better with 10 men when we released the shackles. We gave the fans something not to be embarrassed of.
"When you come to Old Trafford you want to play against the best players. The fact Ten Hag played his best XI shows the respect he has for me, the club and the players."
