12/04/2025

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SATURDAY | APR 12, 2025

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Oh-nana! Goalkeeper’s dire performance leaves United’s Europa League quarterfinal on knife edge

I F THERE was a little to support Andre Onana’s theory Manchester United are “way better” than Lyon, there was further fuel for Nemanja Matic’s accusation. For the goalkeeper branded one of the worst in United’s modern history came one of his worst nights in their shirt, a pair of mistakes to strengthen Matic’s argument. Arguably United were superior to Lyon but it was not reflected in the scoreline as a semifinal spot remained on a knife-edge. That was due to Onana, who bookended the scoring with blunders, affording Lyon a 95th minute equaliser when he pushed Georges Mikautadze’s shot straight back out. Rayan Cherki, following up, tapped in. “The worst moment to concede a goal,” said Leny Yoro. There was no attempt to sugarcoat it; nor could there be. Amorim argued the tie is “50-50” though home advantage could render them slight favourites to secure a semifinal against Athletic Bilbao or Rangers. Yet this had promised so much more – one of the best results of Amorim’s reign, salvation to their season in the form of silverware and Champions League qualification – when Joshua Zirkzee headed them into an 88th-minute lead. But Onana, the man who may have talked too much, contrived to have the final say.

him, so the most important thing is to be natural and then when the time comes I will choose the best XI to play.” As part of his punditry duties for the broadcaster, former Man Utd midfielder Paul Scholes labelled Onana’s role in the first goal as “an awful mistake”. During the half-time break, Scholes said: “He’s probably wishing he’d kept his mouth shut. It’s a really bad mistake. The ball bounces in front of him and it’s an awful mistake.” Former Tottenham midfielder Aaron Lennon declared that Onana’s teammates will be “fuming” over his errors and claimed that the 29-year old cost United the game. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live he said: “You’re fuming (if you’re Onana’s teammate). They’re two massive mistakes. He has got to save both of them in my opinion and he has cost United today. “He was in the headlines before the game and now he is going to be all over the headlines again.” Yoro, who played for Lyon boss Paulo Fonseca while at Lille, is confident United can get the job done after scoring his first goal for the club. “We know that matches like these, away from home, if we win it puts us in a really good position for the return at home,” he said. “Unfortunately we conceded that goal at the end so come away with a draw and will do everything to win the second leg.” – The Independent/AFP

following the

draw. “We

Th e first error saw Onana dive too late to stop Thiago A l m a d a ’ s freekick and the

should have taken a one

goal advantage to the next game but we have the next game at home – we will try to win that game. “It is important to focus on the next game for the League and then think about the second leg against Lyon.” When asked for his thoughts on Onana’s errors the Portuguese was diplomatic and said the whole team has to be responsible for individual errors. He added: “When one player has a mistake, all the team has a mistake so we continue like that. We continue to do the same thing. “Training, seeing the games, trying to choose the best eleven to win every match. “It (mistakes) can happen. If you play football, and we play a lot of games, you can make mistakes,” added Amorim. “There’s nothing I can say to Andre in this moment that will help

ball bounced over his head into the back of the net in the first half before a fumble late in stoppage time of the second allowed Cherki to score an equalise and leave the tie delicately poised at 2-2. His performance seemed to back up Matic’s assertion but Amorim backed his No. 1 by adding that he is “confident in Andre” during his post-match interviews. “We are really disappointed,” explained the

Manchester United boss when speaking to TNT Sports

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- Story on page 27

- Story on page 30

- Story on page 31

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