Ruben Amorim backs Andre Onana, as Man United goalkeeper will start against Lyon

LONDON – Andre Onana will return in goal for Manchester United’s Europa League quarter-final, second leg against Lyon despite his errors in the first leg, manager Ruben Amorim said on April 16.

Lyon snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw in the first leg on April 10 after Onana was at blame for both goals, with Amorim leaving him out for the English Premier League match at Newcastle United three days later when Altay Bayindir played in goal in a 4-1 defeat.

Onana’s errors came a day after former United midfielder Nemanja Matic, now with Lyon, described the Cameroon international as “one of the worst goalkeepers” in the club’s history, but Amorim defended his player at the time and continues to trust him.

“Onana will play tomorrow... As a coach and former player, I try to do things that can help a player in this situation,” Amorim said at a press conference to preview the second leg at Old Trafford on April 17.

“Sometimes we talk about managing players physically, but we also talk about managing them mentally... I try to make the evaluation really simple and not overthink it... He had one weekend to rest, now he’s ready to return... and I chose Andre to start this game.”

According to Opta figures from before the latest round of matches, since the start of last season, no EPL goalkeeper had made more errors leading to goals in all competitions than Onana (eight).

When questions were raised about the performances of Onana and Bayindir, Amorim refused to be drawn into a discussion on whether he was happy with the goalkeepers at his disposal.

“My answer is that we need to improve every position on the field. Goalkeeper is the same, we can work with Andre,” Amorim said.

“(In the close season) we are going to make that evaluation for any position. If we are talking about mistakes, you can see my record. My record is the worst one in our team. So I’m also underperforming and I’m the right guy to coach the team. So the same for Andre.”

Onana will know that the stakes are high. Defeat at Old Trafford would effectively end United’s season, with nothing left to play for in the Premier League.

Former United boss Erik ten Hag had talked up the ball-playing skills of Onana, who was signed in 2023 as a replacement for David de Gea.

The 29-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance with his glove work during his time at Old Trafford and has occasionally demonstrated his ability with the ball at his feet. But he has lacked consistency and has developed an unwanted reputation as a calamity custodian.

The picture with Onana is nuanced. On the one hand, he has the worst minutes-per-goal-conceded ratio of any United goalkeeper with 10 or more league appearances.

But Opta figures last week showed that since the start of the 2023-24 Premier League season, only Everton’s Jordan Pickford (8.7) had prevented more goals than Onana’s 7.5, based on the analytics company’s expected goals model.

Centre-back Harry Maguire also came to Onana’s defence, saying he has proved in the past that he is an “excellent” goalkeeper and that he had confidence in the 29-year-old, who is keen to prove a point.

“He’s won numerous trophies, played in a Champions League final (with Inter Milan).You always have spells where you have ups and downs, and you find yourself a little bit out of form... It’s about how you build yourself back in and find that confidence to perform again,” Maguire said.

“At the moment, he’s probably feeling that everything’s going against him. But you take game by game, and I’m sure he’s going to be there tomorrow night.”

One player who definitely won’t make the squad against Lyon is Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee, who is “out for the season” after suffering a hamstring injury at St James’ Park.

“It’s tough because he was improving in all aspects of the game,” Amorim said of the 23-year-old who had seven goals and three assists in all competitions this season. AFP, REUTERS