As United fans seranaded Toone at one end of the pitch, City striker Vivianne Miedema consoled goalkeeper Keating at the other as the full-time whistle went.
A derby defeat, another dent to City’s faltering WSL title challenge and several costly individual errors meant a nightmare evening for 20-year-old Keating.
The England goalkeeper roared in frustration throughout. First, when her short pass to Leila Ouahabi led to Toone’s second goal to make it 3-0, and then when her clearance was blocked by Terland for Toone to make it 4-2, it was crucially just seconds after the restart with City looking to press on after ending the first half in the ascendancy.
Throwing her arms in the air and shouting to the sky, it appeared Keating’s evening could not get any worse but the United fans taunted her behind her goal for the entirety of the second half.
“Time is a healer. She will be OK, she will feel sore like we all do,” said City boss Gareth Taylor.
“We win, lose and draw together as a team. There is no individual blame. She will be feeling worse I imagine.”
It is not the first time Keating has made mistakes but the young goalkeeper has bounced back before – reclaiming her number one shirt and earning selection for England.
She left Meadow Park in tears when her late error helped Arsenal win 2-1 in November 2023 and there was a costly mix-up in their FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Tottenham last year.
But Taylor believes Keating will come back again, despite competition for her place from summer signing Ayaka Yamashita undoubtedly increasing pressure.
“She’s proven before [she can bounce back] and she will do it again. We never push the blame in any one direction so I think she will be OK within a couple of days,” added the City boss.
“As much as United were aggressive, we played into their hands and we need to be better.
“We are not going to become, under my reign, a team that will smash the ball long or play long. There were times tonight where there were spaces and we exploited it – but we need to be better in the execution of our goal kicks.”
