Joao Felix forced Roy Keane to eat his words by scoring a brilliant header for Atletico Madrid against Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Felix scored the game’s opening goal in the seventh minute with a diving header which went in off the post from Renan Lodi’s pinpoint near-post cross.
Atleti were dominant on the night, but failed to add a second goal as United managed to keep the score at 1-0.
Ralf Rangnick’s side completed the smash and grab late on when Anthony Elanga ran onto Bruno Fernando’s pass and beat Jan Oblak one-on-one with United’s first shot on target.
Considering the pattern of the game, it was a disappointing 1-1 draw for the Spanish hosts, who will travel to Old Trafford on March 15 for the second leg of the last-16 tie.
But it was still a decent night for Atleti forward Felix, who was the brightest player on the pitch at the Calderon.
Former United captain Keane might have been particularly interested in the 22-year-old’s performance, given his previous comments about the youngster.
Keane blasted Felix after watching Portugal’s 1-0 defeat by Belgium at Euro 2020 last summer, calling the man who cost Atleti £113million from Benfica in July 2019.
“I get really annoyed when they're quality players,” Keane said on ITV ’s coverage of that game.
“There's no excuse to be leaning back and just missing the target, just test the goalkeeper because these are top players there's no getting around it.
“Felix, when he came on, he’s an imposter, your country needs you and he comes on – hit the target! £100m?
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“If I was [Cristiano] Ronaldo I’d certainly be going after him in the dressing room.”
Felix is the third most expensive player of all time, with only Paris Saint-Germain’s deal for Neymar and Kylian Mbappe topping his transfer fee to Atleti.
Coming into Wednesday’s game against United, he had a record of 23 goals and 14 assists in 100 appearances for Diego Simeone’s side.
Simeone has clashed with his young star recently, questioning his comments in the media about the team’s struggles, which included four successive defeats in December.
“I don’t know. There are a lot of reasons, I can’t tell you one,” Felix told the Athletic. “We know what is happening, but I prefer not to talk about that.”
Simeone’s side won La Liga last season, but are well off the pace this term, sitting fifth and 15 points behind rivals Real Madrid.
“About what Joao said, you can ask him,” Simeone shot back in a press conference.
“'I work according to the team. If he is clear about what the problem is, it would be good to know.”
