Andre Onana looks to be making up for his early mistakes at Manchester United with some commendable performances in recent months.
The issue now, however, is that it’s his teammates letting him down further up the pitch.
Brentford sliced through the Reds’ midfield and defence in what was an outrageously dominant showing at the Gtech Community Stadium last night.
Thomas Frank’s attackers – particularly the prolific Ivan Toney and Yoane Wissa – were relentless in their quest to break the deadlock. Had Brentford won, nobody could’ve disputed that they didn’t deserve it.
A remarkable 31 shots were fired towards United’s goal, four of which hit the woodwork, while five were stopped by Onana. Their 85 touches in the Reds’ penalty box was the most of any Premier League team across the last three seasons.
It’s safe to say that the Cameroonian would’ve been sweating between the sticks each time the Bees came hurdling towards his end, and you can only wonder what he was telling his defenders throughout the clash, as well as in the dressing room at half/full-time.
MUTV pundits in agreement over resurgent Onana
Alas, after letting just one goal past in the 99th-minute courtesy of an unmarked Kristoffer Ajer, Onana earned praise from the panel of MUTV pundits analysing the night’s affairs.
“Andre Onana is one of very few players to deserve credit. He made a couple of very good saves, and the one-handed save from behind a group of players was exceptional,” Ben Thornley began.
Former Red Wes Brown added: “Brentford hit the woodwork but he made some really good saves. We needed him.”
Having accumulated his fair share of doubters following a catalogue of costly errors in his first few months at the club, ex-defender Gary Pallister now believes that Onana is likely to have won people over.
“[It was] good goalkeeping from Onana. He made some good saves. He had a difficult start to his career; the focus and spotlight was on Onana, but over the past few months he’s got stronger and stronger. He’s pulling off some important saves. He’s silenced quite a few critics over the past few months, and he was Man of the Match tonight,” he said.
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