Manchester United were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final after two costly errors from goalkeeper Andre Onana, including one in the dying seconds of the match.
The Cameroonian, already in the spotlight following a public spat with former teammate Nemanja Matic, endured a hostile reception from the home crowd and failed to deal with Thiago Almada’s early free-kick, handing the hosts the lead.
United fought back through Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee to take a 2-1 advantage into the closing moments. However, Onana’s misjudgment allowed Rayan Cherki to fire home with the final touch of the game, denying the visitors a valuable away win.
“It can happen,” said manager Ruben Amorim, coming to the defence of his under-fire keeper. “If you play football, and we play a lot of games, you can make mistakes. There is nothing I can say to Andre in this moment that will help.”
Despite maintaining their unbeaten run in Europe, Amorim acknowledged the late goal deflated the squad.
“I felt the dressing room was really quiet and that is a good thing,” he added. “We draw away in Europe, that is always hard. The team is suffering and we need to change that.”
The tie now heads to Old Trafford next week with everything still to play for.
