Andre Onana makes howler after Nemanja Matic row as Man Utd keeper embarrassed | Football | Sport
Andre Onana produced a goalkeeping howler as Manchester United went behind in their Europa League showdown with Lyon. The build-up to the match was dominated by a bitter row between the Red Devils stopper and Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic. Onana was savaged in a brutal put-down, with Matic describing him as the worst goalkeeper in United’s long and storied history.
Quizzed on Onana’s claim that United were ‘way better’ than Lyon, Matic fired back: “I respect everyone but to say that then you need to give the answer. If you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United’s history, you need to take care what you’re talking about. You need to have cover to say something like that.”
It did not take long for Onana to issue a pointed response to the former United man, writing in an Instagram caption: “At least I’ve lifted trophies with the greatest club in the world. Some can’t say the same.”
It left Onana needing a faultless display against Lyon to answer Matic’s criticism, but he failed to deliver. He was almost solely responsible for the opening goal, with a speculative cross from Thiago Almada going all the way through and into the net.
It was a relatively harmless delivery which Onana should have gathered comfortably. Instead, he allowed the ball to bounce directly in front of him and dived far too late to have a realistic chance of stopping it.
Izzy Christiansen, commentating on the match for BBC Radio 5 Live, said: “Onana flaps at it, he really does. It bounces just in front of him and he has attempted to parry it away and it has gone into the back of the net beyond him.”
It was a humiliating moment for Onana, who was made to look silly given his comments in the build-up to the fixture. Luckily for the Cameroon international, he was saved just before half-time when Leny Yoro headed home to equalise for the visitors.
Onana’s glaring mistake came just a day after Ruben Amorim leapt to the defence of his goalkeeper, describing the pre-match spat with Matic as a ‘misunderstanding’.
Speaking in his press conference on Wednesday, the United boss said: “Tomorrow it will not matter. If you see the full quote of Andre Onana, it’s quite different. The first sentence is Lyon is a very, very good team.
“I think sometimes the players or coaches don’t listen to the full quotes. Sometimes it’s just a misunderstanding and I know Matic also. He’s a great guy. It is going to be a normal game.”
