Ruben Amorim could be forced into repeating a “crazy” decision in Manchester United’s second-leg Europa League quarter-final clash against Lyon.
Manchester United will welcome French side Lyon to Old Trafford next Thursday after the two teams drew 2-2 at the Groupama Stadium.
Ruben Amorim’s side produced a solid first-leg performance and deserved to come back to England with a lead in the game.
However, André Onana made terrible errors for two goals in the game which cancelled out goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee.
The second mistake, where he parried the ball straight out to Rayan Cherki, was in the final seconds of the game. A sucker-punch for Amorim’s side.
United’s head coach defended the goalkeeper in his interviews after the game but there is no doubt that he will be fuming with the Cameroon international behind closed doors.
Amorim forced to repeat “crazy” decision vs Lyon
Onana’s performance was made worse because of the media storm he caused with his pre-match comments, with Nemanja Matic responding in fiery fashion.
The goalkeeper could have calmed down the situation with a better response but instead simply hit back at the Serbian by pointing out that he didn’t win a trophy during his time at Old Trafford.
He couldn’t handle the pressure in Lyon and it feels like a mistake waiting to happen if Amorim starts him in the second-leg next week.
Altay Bayındır is fit once again after a spell out of action with an injury and he has to start this next game against Lyon, and even potentially the Premier League fixture against Newcastle on the weekend.
The Turkish international has only played twice in Europe for the club since his arrival – both in the league phase this season – and the first time came against Rangers.
Ironically, club legend Gary Pallister had urged Amorim to avoid starting Bayındır in that game against the Scottish outfit, labelling it as a “crazy” prospect before the clash.
Of course, Amorim ended up starting that game and impressed, with an important save before United produced a late winner. It seems inevitable that the head coach will repeat that decision.
Amorim responds to Onana’s horror display vs Lyon
Amorim was inevitably asked about the mistakes from his shot-stopper after full-time and he kept his cards close to his chest on how he truly felt.
“[It is] important to focus on the next game for the league and then think about the second leg against Lyon. When one player has a mistake, all the team has a mistake so we continue like that.” he told TNT Sports.
He then swerved a question when asked if the 29-year-old retains his faith heading into the second-leg.
“No we continue to do the same thing,” he replied. “Training, seeing the games, trying to choose the best eleven to win every match.”
United fans have been frustrated with Onana this season and this performance seemed to tip many of them over the edge.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.