Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana had a tough night as his side were held to a 2-2 draw by Lyon in the UEFA Europa League. Onana was directly involved in both goals conceded, just a day after former United player Nemanja Matic labelled him “one of the worst goalkeepers” in the club’s history.
Despite the criticism and his mistakes, United head coach Ruben Amorim stood by his goalkeeper after the match. He said: “If you look at the season, I’ve made more mistakes than them during these last games and during these last months. There’s nothing I can say to Andre in this moment that will help him, so the most important thing is to be natural and then when the time comes, I will choose the best XI to play. But I’m really confident in Andre.”
What went wrong for Onana?
The first goal came from a free-kick taken by Thiago Almada. The ball bounced awkwardly in front of Onana, and he failed to deal with it properly. Lyon took the early lead, but United bounced back with two goals—one each from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee—giving them a 2-1 lead.
United looked set to secure the win, but disaster struck in stoppage time. With less than 30 seconds remaining, Onana failed to control Georges Mikautadze’s shot, only managing to push it into the path of Rayan Cherki. Cherki made no mistake and scored the equaliser to make it 2-2.
Now, after this result, Manchester United must beat Lyon in the second leg at Old Trafford to advance to the next round. That match is scheduled for next Thursday.
Despite the pressure and recent criticism, Amorim’s backing of Onana shows that the United coach still has faith in his goalkeeper ahead of the crucial second leg.
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