Latest news with #AndréOnana
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
New season, same strife between the sticks for Manchester United
New seasons are never new starts, not entirely. The sun may have been shining and the temperature in the mid‑20s. There may have been new kits on the pitch and new flags in the stands. There may, among home fans, perhaps especially those refreshed in the new marquee behind the Stretford End, have been a giddy expectation that this season couldn't be as bad as last for Manchester United. But the roots of a game run deep, stretching back into the mulch of the past. This was a game shaped by events last December. Arsenal are good at set pieces; United are vulnerable to inswinging deliveries. In December last year Arsenal beat United 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium, both goals the result of corners. United had André Onana in goal for that one, but Tottenham had taken notice of the susceptibility to balls arced into the goalmouth, the way United struggled to protect their keeper. Two weeks later, Spurs played United in the Carabao Cup. Altay Bayindir was in goal for that one and endured the indignity of being beaten direct from a corner by Son Heung-min. United don't like inswingers and Bayindir really doesn't like inswingers. Declan Rice is good at taking inswingers. And so there was a certain inevitability to what happened after 13 minutes. United had looked vaguely threatening. Arsenal had been rattled enough to commit four fouls in that period. Then Arsenal won a corner from their left. Rice whipped it in, Bayindir flapped and would have scored an own-goal had Riccardo Calafiori not nodded the ball in the line from the goal-line. Read More Workmanlike Arsenal dig in to cloud new Manchester United dawn Fundamentally, with more decisive goalkeeping any potential foul wouldn't have been an issue. David Raya's assertive punch to clear an inswinging free-kick from Bruno Fernandes early in the second half, cuffing Matthijs de Ligt out of the way, showed the way to do it. Maybe the analogy was never entirely apt. Maybe building from the foundations up doesn't necessarily mean getting the defence right. Maybe as football increasingly becomes about content production there is some sort of commercial logic in prioritising the goalscorers and the creators, the players who will look good clipped up or, to continue the metaphor, the spire, the ornamentation on the roof. But on the other hand, it doesn't much matter if you've spent £200m on forwards if you're going to concede goals like that. Particularly if you don't then actually score yourself. There were positive signs from both Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha but the most incisive United player, yet again, was Amad Diallo, who came off the bench to play at right wing-back 10 minutes into the second half. To point out that United drew this fixture last season and that they're therefore doing worse this season is on one level meaningless. But equally this is a manager whose win percentage is 37.2%, the worst in half a century – and if United fail to win at Fulham next week, he will drop below both Frank O'Farrell and Wilf McGuinness to have the worst win percentage of any United manager since Herbert Bamlett, who was sacked in 1931. Context matters. There was plenty of mitigation. But it won't take many more bad results for faith in Amorim to wane. When form has been so bad, it's only natural to catastrophise: if they don't win at Craven Cottage, the next home match, against newly-promoted Burnley, takes on a ghastly aspect: not merely a game they should win, but a game they have to win. This season is not discrete from the last. Poor results are a problem not only in themselves but for the impact they have on games to come: time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future. Guardian
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Calafiori strikes after goalkeeper's error as Arsenal grind to win at Manchester United
Blazing sunshine and a busy new marquee serving craft ale behind the Stretford End: Manchester United began in a shiny new world and finished in the gloom of another defeat. First look at Altay Bayindir's howler that handed Riccardo Calafiori an easy header. But then zoom out and you see this: a crisis at No 1 for United that features Ruben Amorim going all summer not fancying André Onana and still turning up for the season opener without a replacement. Result: dropping the Cameroonian completely. Arsenal failed to fire throughout – Viktor Gyökeres's 60-minute debut was a non-event – but they didn't need to with United so dismal at both ends. Towards the close Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo tripped over Arsenal players in a hectic scramble to cancel out Calafiori's strike: a snapshot of United's chronic toothlessness. Moments later, a better Mbeumo headed effort drew a good save from David Raya. There were further goalmouth scrambles but no United player could stick the ball in the net. In a middling contest, Amorim's team had to do what the visiting left-back did – with this 13th-minute goal a disaster for United and a joy for him. Declan Rice arrowed a corner in from the left, a clownish Bayindir merely palmed the ball on, and Calafiori nodded home a ball already heading in. 'One-nil to the Arsenal' came the ecstatic taunt from the faithful. United complained that Bayindir was caught in a melee but we witnessed the questionable summer transfer strategy of spending £200m-plus and not recruiting a top-rated No 1. Just as suspect was the XI sent out that could be marked 'curio' with Amorim preferring Casemiro to Manuel Ugarte in midfield, and Mason Mount was the nominal No 9 (no squad place for Rasmus Højlund), though Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha started. The new boys began fast – Mbeumo barged over Martín Zubimendi (also on debut), Cunha ran in, howled for his twin-10 to pass, he did, but Arsenal escaped. Mikel Arteta, who issued a trademark moan at Mbeumo's challenge, had to watch as Mbeumo again motored along his right corridor but the shot was a pea-roller into Raya's hands. At this juncture, United were fast and furious, even when defending. From a Bruno Fernandes corner Arsenal broke and Mount hared back to help out. Then, after Calafiori's winner, United were back in counterattack mode. A proposition of serial moments but none of the patterns Amorim (surely) craves. Patrick Dorgu hit a post. The livewire Cunha wriggled in a left zone and turned and forced a Raya reflex save. Zubimendi's foul on Fernandes had the latter hitting the wall to the right of the area. A scintillating Cunha run took him from halfway through a thicket of opponents and clear in but the effort was scuffed. Mbeumo's cute layoff was followed by a 25-yard Cunha hit straight at Raya. Yet without Bayindir's howler Arteta would have had the harder half-time chat as his team was no smooth unit, tapping the ball about, manoeuvring those in red about like Subbuteo pieces. Rice and Zubimendi exerted scant control in central areas and Gyökeres laboured and suffered from his teammates' creation-deficit. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion United, brighter in this department, saw Mount fluff their latest attempt, so Amorim had to do something – be patient (in hope) or make a change. He chose the latter. Amad (another surprising exclusion) entered for the average Diogo Dalot and the Ivorian impressed – one more Amorim team selection puzzler. Benjamin Sesko, continually warming up, watched on as Fernandes flipped in a dead-ball from the left corner flag and Raya rose and punched away – as Bayindir fatally failed to. To boos Gyökeres was hooked on the hour for Kai Havertz. The derision came from spurned suitors after the Swede chose north London not south Manchester. But jeers became cheers as Sesko was given a 25-minute debut – for the anonymous Mount. Ugarte, too, was introduced, for Casemiro. Immediately, a tangle with Noni Maduke, another visiting substitute, was the midfield bite United lacked. Amorim's men were lacking all over the park. A tight win for Arsenal. One more chastening day for the Portuguese's project.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Man United: Ruben Amorim explains Onana's absence against Arsenal
André Onana Before the Premier League showdown between Manchester United and Arsenal, Red Devils coach Ruben Amorim spoke out about André Onana's absence. This Sunday, André Onana is not in the Manchester United squad for their first big clash of the season against Arsenal in the Premier League. The Cameroonian goalkeeper was deemed not quite ready to return to action. Ahead of the encounter with the Gunners, Red Devils manager Ruben Amorim explained his decision to leave Onana out. "He's not injured, he's recovered… but the other players worked well during pre-season, so I have to find a balance. Next week, it'll be a different story. This week, we chose these players." the coach stated. A tactical decision, then.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Man United: Ruben Amorim explains Onana's absence against Arsenal
André Onana Before the Premier League showdown between Manchester United and Arsenal, Red Devils coach Ruben Amorim spoke out about André Onana's absence. This Sunday, André Onana is not in the Manchester United squad for their first big clash of the season against Arsenal in the Premier League. The Cameroonian goalkeeper was deemed not quite ready to return to action. Ahead of the encounter with the Gunners, Red Devils manager Ruben Amorim explained his decision to leave Onana out. "He's not injured, he's recovered… but the other players worked well during pre-season, so I have to find a balance. Next week, it'll be a different story. This week, we chose these players." the coach stated. A tactical decision, then.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
🚨 Man United v Arsenal: official line-ups
The first big clash of the season in the PL. Arsenal and Manchester United face off this Sunday, August 17, at Old Trafford for the opening clash of the Premier League. Viktor Gyökeres will make his debut for the Gunners, just like Benjamin Sesko for Manchester! Injured in the tendon, André Onana is absent for this start, XXX will be guarding the Manchester goal. Manchester United: Bayindir; Dalot, De Ligt, Yoro, Shaw, Dorgu; Casemiro, Mount, Fernandes, Mbeumo, Cunha, Šeško Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Ødegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyökeres, Martinelli This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here. 📸 Alex Pantling - 2025 Getty Images
