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Manchester United struggled to show any signs of promise as they were pummelled 3-1 by rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
With just two shots in the entire match and only 26% possession, Man United looked highly amateurish, struggling to string together any threatening attacking movements apart form Marcus Rashford’s long-range goal in the eighth minute. More often than not, United’s outfield players would thread the ball back to goalkeeper Andre Onana, clearly lacking any confidence on the ball.
Given the uneven matchup on the day, Onana was given plenty of goalkeeping practice, emerging as one of United’s stronger performers on what was an afternoon to forget.
With United surprisingly entering the half-time break a goal up, Onana was pivotal at preventing the home side from equalising. He managed to block a close-range effort by Phil Foden in the 14th minute and yet again denied Foden as they went one-on-one four minutes later.
He notably stopped a thunderous volley by Rodri, while also denying Kevin de Bruyne on the rebound.
Unfortunately, Onana could not keep City out forever, with Foden equalising in the 56th minute. While the Cameroonian was able to tip a threatening De Bruyne cross over the crossbar to deny another goalscoring opportunity, City opened the floodgates in the 80th minute, when Foden grabbed the lead for the home side, while Erling Haaland wrapped up the win in stoppage time.
Overall, Onana made five saves, along with two punches. He also impressively made eight high claims, doing well to limit the home side’s threat from corners.
Completing 25 of 38 passes, Onana had a 66% passing accuracy – slightly disappointing for the typically strong passer. Seven of his 16 long balls reached their intended targets.
Aside from his impressive goalkeeping performance, Onana showed the confidence to come out of the box when his team needed him. He made three key clearances while also winning two out of two aerial duels.
Ultimately, it was a decent performance by Onana, who proved to be the silver lining for United in what was otherwise a disappointing performance in which they clearly appeared inferior to their bitter rivals.
While his passing accuracy left a bit to be desired, Onana showed great saving ability and was effective as the 11th outfield player while also proving effective when playing high up the field.
Onana proved that he is indeed a difference-maker for United and is continuing to integrate at United in his debut season at Old Trafford. One can’t help but imagine that the scoreline would have been a lot bigger had Onana not been in goal.
(Stats via Sofascore)
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