Andre Onana faces date with destiny as Man United chase Lyon win

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.

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