The 3-3 tie in Istanbul came after a 3-2 loss to Gala in the first encounter and 4-3 losses to Bayern Munich and FC Copenhagen, as United, the highest scorers in Champions League Group A, kept the rankings afloat.

This adds to Onana’s record of 33 goals conceded in 20 games since being bought from Inter Milan by Erik ten Hag this summer to replace long-serving keeper David De Gea.

He has only conceded 16 goals in 13 Premier League appearances, a slight improvement on De Gea’s record under Ten Hag at the same point last season, when he had conceded 18 goals, but he has surpassed that total in only seven appearances in other competitions, including a 3-0 Carabao Cup loss to Newcastle.

By this point last season, United had conceded 25 goals in 21 games across all competitions, with De Gea responsible for 23 of those, albeit in the Europa League. Martin Dubravka was in goal for Aston Villa’s 4-2 League Cup victory.

One extreme or the other

Onana has seven clean sheets for United, including a stoppage-time penalty save in the 1-0 home win against Copenhagen, but has conceded three or more goals on eight occasions, whereas De Gea did so only six times last season, including losses to Manchester City and Liverpool.

In addition to the Newcastle tie and the four Champions League games, United has lost 3-1 to Arsenal, Brighton, and 3-0 to City this season.

Eight games constitute 40% of Onana’s United appearances to date, whilst De Gea conceded three or more goals in less than 10% of his 12 years at Old Trafford.

This season’s ‘one extreme or the other’ approach has resulted in only five outliers in which United has conceded once or twice. Since beating Sheffield United 2-1 on October 21, they’ve had four clean sheets and allowed three or four goals in their other four outings.

How Onana compares

De Gea earned the Premier League Golden Glove last season after keeping 17 clean sheets and conceding 43 goals in 38 games, an average of 1.13 per game.

Onana’s current rate of 1.23 equates to 46.77 goals per league season – United has only conceded 47 or more goals twice, in 2018-19 and 2021-22.

De Gea was a fixture in the league for both of those seasons, which were by far United’s worst in the Premier League history. In 2018-19, they conceded 72 goals in 51 games across all competitions, at an average of 1.41 goals per game.

United surrendered 63 goals in 62 games last season, averaging 1.02 goals per game under Ten Hag. Apart from four Carabao Cup games shared by Dubravka and Tom Heaton, De Gea was always present.

To compensate for Onana, United has allowed more shots on goal this season while battling with defensive issues. The Cameroon international has made 51 saves in 13 league games, putting him halfway to De Gea’s tally of 101 in 38 games last season, and he’s averaging 3.9 per game, up from 2.7.