Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana takes responsibility for Champions League loss at Bayern Munich

MUNICH – Goalkeeper Andre Onana said he was to blame for Manchester United’s Champions League 4-3 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

The German side struck twice in four minutes in the first half at the Allianz Arena to set them on their way to

victory in their Group A opener.

It was the Red Devils’ third straight loss and their fourth in their last five matches.

A mistake by Cameroon international Onana saw the Bundesliga side take the lead when he let winger Leroy Sane’s routine shot slip past him and into the net.

“It’s difficult to lose this way because I feel in the beginning, we started very good. After my mistake, we lost the control of the game,” Onana told TNT Sports.

“It’s a difficult situation and for me especially because I’m the one who let the team down. But the team was very good; It’s because of me that they didn’t win this game.

“My start in Manchester is not so good, it’s not how I want (to play). Today is one of my worst games and it is difficult... it was a big opportunity for us to bounce back after the situation we are facing,” added the 27-year-old, who

moved to Old Trafford from Inter Milan in July

.

United manager Erik ten Hag has backed Onana to bounce back.

“(In) football on the whole, (there) will always be mistakes, and this is one mistake. So, we also don’t make it bigger than it is. He will bounce back, and he is a very important player,” said the Dutchman.

Since a historic

7-0 humiliation at the hands of Liverpool in March,

United have lost eight of their last 12 games away from home in all competitions.

Ten Hag called for character from his side to bounce back from being outplayed at home by Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 at the weekend. Instead, the former Ajax Amsterdam boss will be concerned at how quickly his side crumbled after Onana’s blunder and twice conceded within minutes of getting back into the game.

Former United midfielder Paul Scholes said on TNT Sports: “There is a weakness to them. There is a soft underbelly and they do seem to collapse a bit when things are going wrong.”

Serge Gnabry quickly doubled Bayern’s advantage after Jamal Musiala burst through the United defence with ease.

Rasmus Hojlund’s first goal for the club was the big positive of the night for ten Hag’s men. However, Harry Kane restored Bayern’s two-goal cushion within four minutes from the penalty spot after Christian Eriksen was harshly penalised for handball.

Bayern should have then ran up a far more convincing scoreline as they twice hit the woodwork and eased off by bringing off Kane, Sane, Gnabry and Musiala.

Kane explained Bayern’s approach, saying: “Today, Jamal and I played more as No. 10s, so the wingers could play almost 1v1 against the fullbacks. Towards the end it got a bit frantic, but overall we controlled a lot of the possession. We probably should have been 4-1 or 5-1 up after we got the third.”

Casemiro’s first goal could have provoked a nervy finale had Mathys Tel not been given space to crash in Bayern’s fourth within four minutes. The Brazilian then headed in his second with virtually the last action of the match.

Said ten Hag: “When you score three goals in Munich, you have to take at least a point, which we didn’t. We have to take a look at ourselves in the mirror.

“We are in a period when a lot is going against us, but we have to make our own luck. When we don’t (implement) the principles of your game, you concede goals.”

Despite the win, Sane said the Bavarian giants need to be more calm.

The Player of the Match told DAZN: “Going forward, it was great, but we also have to make fewer mistakes as a collective. There were a few too many tonight and, when we’re 2-0 up, we need to bring a bit more calm into games to control matches.”

Former Bayern and Germany midfielder Michael Ballack called his German champions a “mixed bag”, adding on DAZN: “You often don’t know what you will get. United were not at the same level as Bayern... Bayern should have won with a bigger margin, but a positive thing to note is how they reacted well to every goal they conceded.”

In the other Group A match, late goals saw Galatasaray rescue a 2-2 draw at home to 10-man Copenhagen. REUTERS, AFP