Amorim shrugs off Onana mistakes after Manchester Utd held to draw

Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended under-fire goalkeeper Andre Onana following the Cameroonian's costly mistakes in his side's 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyonnais in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.

Onana allowed Thiago Almada's free kick to squirm past him in the Groupama Stadium and was also at fault for Rayan Cherki's last-gasp equaliser that denied United victory.

Since the start of last season, no Premier League club's goalkeeper has made more errors leading to goals being conceded in all competitions than Onana.

"It can happen, if you play football, you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes," Amorim said. "If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and these last months.

"The other thing is we have one more game to change everything and that should be our focus.

"The best thing is to look at the goals, all the actions that Andre had in the game, this is the best way to help any player, it's to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve."

United nonetheless remain unbeaten in this season's Europa League - the only side to do so this term - after goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee put them on course for a potential victory.

The team, who are 13th in the English Premier League standings, still go into next week's second leg in Manchester as favourites to book a spot in the last four.

"It was an entertaining game," Amorim added. "We had some difficulty in the first half trying to press, because Lyon played in a different way. Then, in the middle of the first half and especially the second, we controlled the game.

"The second leg will be a different game. At home, our fans want us to press all the time."

More from Sports News

News

  • Dubai Police spearhead global fraud crackdown

    Dubai Police have led a major international operation targeting transnational financial crime, resulting in the arrest of 276 suspects and the dismantling of nine criminal centres linked to investment fraud and virtual currency scams.

  • UAE launches National Register of Modern Heritage

    The UAE has launched a National Register of Modern Heritage as part of wider efforts to preserve cultural landmarks and strengthen Emirati identity across future generations.

  • UAE leaders hold talks with Bahrain King

    UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain on Wednesday, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court.