Amadou Onana reacts to Joshua Zirkzee after ‘ridiculous’ Man United comments
Joshua Zirkzee has received a reaction from Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana on social media following Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Lyon in the Europa League.
All the talk prior to kick-off at the Groupama Stadium in the quarter-finals of the Europa League was between Manchester United’s Andre Onana and former player Nemanja Matić.
In Lyon’s pre-match press conference on Wednesday (9 April) Matic, who made 189 appearances for the red side of Manchester between 2017 and 2022, said Onana is “one of the worst goalkeepers” in the club’s history.
This was in response to the goalkeepers bold claim that Manchester United were “way better” than the French side, despite sitting 13th in the Premier League table.
The first-leg ended all square with Matic having the last laugh despite being on the bench, as Onana made two calamitous errors, including one in the 95th minute to leave the tie in the balance ahead of next week.
“Ridiculous” to just blame Onana says Zirkzee
The second of those errors cancelled out what looked to be an uplifting late winner from Zirkzee in the 88th minute for just his seventh goal in 47 outings this term.
In his post-match press conference, the goalscorer was asked whether the players would share the responsibility for Onana’s mistakes, in which Zirkzee said: “One hundred per cent. We’re one team, so we’re not going to take someone out for making mistakes. That’s ridiculous.”
“To draw in this way is always a little bit… I don’t want to say frustrating, but it hurts for it to go this way.
“But we just have to focus on the next game and that’s Newcastle away and then we all know what we have to do when we face them again at home next week.
“I’m sure with the full support of the stadium, it’s going to be difficult for them and easier for us, but they’re a great team – let’s not forget that – and it’s not going to be easy, but we all want to win, we have to win, so we’ll see.”
The 23-year-old forward then posted on his Instagram on Friday (11 April), sharing an image of his preferred gun finger celebration, after scoring what Manchester United must have thought to be the winning goal.
In response to the message, Aston Villa midfielder Onana, who was infamously mixed up with the under-fire Manchester United shot stopper of the same name reacted by liking the post.
Ruben Amorim should be targeting a new goalkeeper ahead of next season
Football Insider Verdict
Since joining the club in July 2023, Onana has made nine errors leading to goals, the highest amongst Premier League goalkeepers in the same period.
There comes a point where these mistakes cannot solely be put down to just a lack of confidence and this summer could become a turning point for Onana under Amorim.
Perhaps the saving factor in the 29-year-old’s long-term future may be Amorim’s preference to strengthen other areas before looking at his goalkeeper.
The Red Devils are crying out for a natural goalscorer alongside wing-backs who are comfortable in the new system the Portuguese coach is trying to implement.
However, it feels that if Manchester United have the ambition to competing at the very top once more, Onana will not be the club’s first choice goalkeeper for much longer.