Andre Onana’s Manchester United compared to club goalkeeping icons

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Record vs club icons 

©IMAGO

Andre Onana’s extreme confidence backfired majorly as he made yet another massive mistake but Manchester United saved their goalkeeper by fighting back to secure a 2-2 draw away to Lyon. Onana became engulfed in a war of words with former Man United midfielder Nemanja Matic in the build-up to the Europa League quarter-final between the two sides. The Cameroon international insisted the English side were ‘much better’ than their Ligue 1 opponents and Matic delivered a cutting reply, claiming the 29-year-old was ‘one of the world goalkeepers in Man United history.”

Matic said: “If David de Gea or Peter Schmeichel or [Edwin] van der Sar said that then I will ­question myself but if you are one of the statistically worst goalkeepers in Man United’s ­modern history then he needs to show that before he says, so we will see.” And Onana was haunted by his comments as he made a huge blunder as Thiago Almada scored the opener for Lyon. The United goalkeeper flapped at a simple free-kick as the ball slipped through his hands, but he was rescued by Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee with the scores level ahead of the return leg at Old Trafford.

Onana was signed by Man United for €50.2 million from Inter Milan in 2023 after an impressive season for the Italian giants. Erik Ten Hag decided he wanted to go in a different direction from David de Gea but Onana’s signing hasn’t worked out. The stopper was renowned for his ball-playing ability at Inter but he’s made countless errors for United to raise serious questions about his long-term future.

 As the graphic above illustrates, Onana has conceded 1.48 goals per game across his United career with a staggering 138 goals lost in just 94 games. As alluded to by Matic, Onana’s record is considerably worse than some famous United goalkeepers across the years. De Gea conceded 1.08 goals per game across over a decade as number one at Old Trafford. The Spaniard won United’s player of the season in three seasons but his record was inferior to legendary goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar.