Manchester United’s Champions League season is hanging by a thread following another dreadful performance in the group stage on Wednesday, and it was more of the same. The Red Devils lost a 2-0 lead and drew 3-3 against Galatasaray, dropping the English team to fourth place in Group A as goalie and defensive issues persist. While they are still just one point behind second-placed Copenhagen, Wednesday’s outcome puts them in an incredibly difficult situation heading into Matchday 6, where they must win Bayern Munich while Copenhagen and Galatasaray draw.
After the game, captain Bruno Fernandes discussed the goals conceded, which saw Andre Onana miscalculate two Hakim Ziyech free kicks in what was just another gaffe in a season full of them.
“It’s quite difficult. “We gave up some really bad goals,” Onana told TNT Sports. “We must take command of the situations in all of them.” We were on top of the game twice, and we had far too many chances to win. We were not sufficiently clinical. I have nothing to say. We’ve conceded two goals and there’s nothing we can do about it. Obviously, we could have done better with those two objectives, but they are what they are. Every time we let up a goal, we had numerous chances to score again. We had four chances at the end of the game. We need to keep our heads up and attempt to put the best players in the best places while without taking any risks ourselves.”
This is part of a worrying trend, since Onana’s performance earned Ziyech a spot on our team of the week. He left the back post exposed on the first free kick, which he just cannot concede from.
He just botched it on the second.
Back in September, Onana accepted responsibility for a 4-3 loss at Bayern Munich, where the former Inter goalkeeper made another costly error. In that case, Onana requested an interview with CBS Sports following the game.
“I have to assume the responsibility,” Onana remarked on September 20. “I think we lost this game because of me and the mistake I made, the goal we conceded.”
Wednesday was no exception. Sure, he has a terrible defensive wall in front of him, but he was one of the world’s top goalkeepers last season, helping Inter reach the UCL final.
Months later, his errors are costing United the season, with only Antwerp conceding more goals in the group stage than United’s 14.
United has scored three goals in each of their three UCL road games, against Bayern Munich, Copenhagen, and Galatasaray. They did not win either of them.