Onana: 'Man Utd lost to Bayern because of me'
"This is a difficult situation for us and me personally, when I let the whole team down," Onana said after the loss at Allianz Stadium, Munich. "Man Utd played well, but because of me the team lost today. That's the situation of a goalkeeper. I'm happy with the team's performance, but we have to continue."
At Allianz Stadium on the evening of September 20, Onana received four goals from nine shots on target from Bayern. In particular, he made a mistake that caused Man Utd to concede first in the 28th minute while creating a balanced match and this is considered a turning point. Leroy Sane shot the ball lightly from the edge of the penalty area near Onana's position, but the 27-year-old goalkeeper missed the ball. The Cameroon goalkeeper collapsed on the field after this mistake, forcing his teammates Sergio Reguilon and Lisandro Martinez to come and support him.
After that, Onana conceded three more times, from Serge Gnabry's close-range cushion, Harry Kane's penalty kick and Mathys Tel's shot across the roof of the net. Casemiro's double and Rasmus Hojlund's goal were not enough for Man Utd to regain a point.
Onana admitted that Man Utd lost because of his mistake and considered his performance against Bayern to be one of the worst matches since the beginning of his career. The Cameroonian goalkeeper sees this as an opportunity to learn, get stronger and continue to improve. "It's difficult because Man Utd is a big club that wants to win all the matches," he added. "These are difficult times, we must continue to unite and work hard."
On TNT Sports, legendary Rio Ferdinand was disappointed and emphasized that Onana should have caught Sane's shot. "This is a nightmare scenario for Onana," the famous British player commented. "Onana is very confident with his feet, but as a goalkeeper, you go on the field to make saves. That shot was not strong and did not go into a dead corner. Onana should have caught it and then passed it onto the ball. teammates. That was a very, very bad mistake and Onana must fix it soon."
This summer, the owner of Old Trafford said goodbye to David de Gea - the team's most senior player, to recruit Onana for 62 million USD. Onana is a modern goalkeeper, outstanding in his ability to pass the ball with his feet, and is expected to help Man Utd improve its ability to deploy the ball from home.
The Cameroon goalkeeper demonstrated this strength by helping Man Utd control the ball better, but received a lot of criticism for his ability to block with his hands. The "Red Devils" have conceded 14 goals in all competitions this season, the most among Premier League clubs.
Yesterday's loss to Bayern was also the first time Man Utd conceded at least two goals in five consecutive matches since 2001, and conceded at least three goals in three consecutive matches since December 1978 under Dave Sexton. Before meeting Bayern, coach Erik ten Hag and his team lost 1-3 to Brighton, 1-3 to Arsenal, won 3-2 to Nottingham Forest and lost 0-2 to Tottenham in the Premier League.
