Amorim Backs Onana After Goalkeeping Blunders in Draw Against Lyon

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim stood by goalkeeper Andre Onana after two key mistakes from the Cameroonian helped Lyon grab a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.

Onana let a free kick from Thiago Almada slip past him, then misjudged a late strike from Rayan Cherki that snatched away what looked like a United win.

Since the start of last season, no Premier League keeper has made more errors that led to goals across all competitions than Onana — a stat that’s drawn plenty of criticism.

But Amorim wasn’t piling on.

“Mistakes happen. If you’re on the pitch enough, they’re going to happen,” he said. “Honestly, over the last few months, I’ve probably made more mistakes than the players.”

He added, “We’ve still got another game to turn things around — that’s where our focus should be. The best way to support a player is to look at the full game: what went wrong, what went right, and what we need to fix.”

Despite the defensive slip-ups, United are still unbeaten in this year’s Europa League. Goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee had them in control for much of the night before Lyon’s late comeback.

Sitting 13th in the Premier League, United will head back to Manchester for the second leg next week still seen as the favorites to reach the semi-finals.

“It was a fun match to watch,” Amorim said. “We struggled early trying to press — Lyon changed their approach, and we had to adjust. But as the game went on, especially in the second half, we took control.”

“The return leg will be a different story. At Old Trafford, our fans expect us to press from the first whistle.”