Ruben Amorim says he remains “really confident” in Andre Onana despite the under-fire goalkeeper’s mistakes costing Manchester United a Europa League quarter-final win at Lyon.
The spotlight was on a player described as “one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United’s history” ahead of Thursday’s first leg by Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic, who hit back after Onana said the Red Devils were “way better” than the French side.
The United shot-stopper received an intimidating reception at a rocking Groupama Stadium, where his error midway through the first half resulted in Thiago Almada’s free-kick finding the net.
United turned things around through Leny Yoro’s first goal for the club and substitute Joshua Zirkzee’s late header, only for Onana to be beaten by Rayan Cherki after spilling Georges Mikautadze’s stoppage-time strike as the match ended 2-2.
“It can happen,” Amorim said. “If you play football and you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes.
“If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and during these last months, so that can happen.
“The good thing is that we have one more game to change everything, so that should be our focus.”
Asked if the comments from former Red Devils player Matic – who was an unused substitute on Thursday – caused Onana to be a little distracted on a night of hostility, United’s head coach said: “I don’t know, that can happen.
“The best thing is to look at the goals and all the actions that Andre has had in the game, to talk with (goalkeeping coaches, Jorge) Vital and Craig (Mawson). This is the best way to help any player.
“It is to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve and then put the player (in) again.”
Amorim had not seen Onana before facing the media but said the dressing room was “really quiet”, adding that as “the team is suffering but we need to change that and have the opportunity to change that”.
Ruben reflects on the first leg 🗣️#MUFC || #UEL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 10, 2025
Pushed on what he will say to the United goalkeeper, Amorim said: “Nothing. We have training, go with Vital and we deal with that. I am really natural.
“That can happen with any player. We will try to help. There’s nothing I can say to Andre in this moment that would help him.
“So, the most important thing is to be natural and then, when the time comes, I will choose the best XI to play. But I’m really confident in Andre.”
Lyon boss Paulo Fonseca was proud of his players’ performance against the Premier League side and was surprised by talk of a war of words between Onana and Matic.
“It was not a war,” the Portuguese said. “These are normal situations in football. It was not a strategy by Nemanja Matic at all.
“I think that’s something normal. Of course we need to respect everyone’s opinion and I think Nemanja and Andre Onana forgot about this tonight, so everything is good now.”
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