‘Really poor’ – Paul Scholes says Andre Onana ‘needs to be better’ after Lyon blunders

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Paul Scholes says Andre Onana should think twice before speaking about other sides and players after the Manchester United goalkeeper was at fault for both goals in his side’s 2-2 draw against Lyon in the Europa League quarter-final. The errors came after the former Ajax player was involved in a war of words with former Manchester United player Nemanja Matic ahead of the match.

Onana mistake 'awful, terrible, shocking', say Scholes and Carney

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Andre Onana was at fault for both goals as Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw by Lyon on Thursday night.

And United legend Paul Scholes has said the goalkeeper needs to be better.

United went a goal behind in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League match at Lyon, with Thiago Almada's free-kick bouncing past the keeper despite what looked to be a simple save.

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Lyon's second goals saw Rayan Cherki pounce on a parried shot from Onana, a save that he perhaps should have held more firmly and not given the Frenchman the chance to score,

Speaking after the game, Scholes outright said Onana needs to be better and should think twice before speaking about other sides and players.

"He needs to be better," Scholes said. "He's had a really poor year and talking about other teams is probably not a wise thing to do.

"I think it's something they have to think on. But you have to think budget-wise as well, where are the priorities in this team? Can you get away without spending money on a goalkeeper? He's not been quite good enough, and maybe he needs a bit of competition. It'll come down to money and what he's got to spend."

"We've seen this goalkeeper, he was capable at Ajax, he was good at Inter Milan," Scholes continued. "He was good, especially with his feet. He was brought to be a good footballer, and that hasn't quite happened as well as conceding the goal.

"I don't think his passing and distribution from the back has been great. There are a lot of problems for Ruben Amorim and he knows that, he's got a lot to solve."

His blunders come a day after former Man Utd midfielder and Lyon player Nemanja Matic called Onana "one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United history" in response to the Cameroonian's claims that his side are better than Lyon.

Onana then replied via social media, pointing out that he won last year's FA Cup and that Matic failed to hoist any silverware in his five years at Old Trafford.

At half-time, Scholes commented that Onana would wish "he kept his mouth shut before the game."

"He's probably wishing he kept his mouth shut before the game. It's a really bad mistake."

"It's a decent ball in, we initially thought it could have been offside, but obviously Leny Yoro is the one who plays him on.

"But from then on, the keeper, I'm not sure what he was trying to do. He obviously tries to clear it but the ball bounces right in front of him. It's an awful mistake from him."

Success in the Europa League is crucial for Man Utd for numerous reasons, particularly with the added financial security that UEFA Champions League qualification brings, especially as Sir Jim Ratcliffe aims to trim costs around the club.

Onana's first error was the eighth he had made leading directly to a goal since the start of last season, which could be pivotal to whether or not United can progress to the semi-finals.

'You have to back it up' - Carney and Scholes react to Onana mistakes

Video credit: TNT Sports

Karen Carney echoed Scholes' view, saying: "It is terrible.

"He made noise this week with his comments, and if you're gonna do that, you have to back it up with your performances. And it hasn't been just this one off.

"The bounce catches him out and he doesn't concentrate on it... When you're away in Europe and you've got the fans in the stadium all against you, you need your goalkeeper to keep you in the game and dig you out from mistakes.

"It's when you do a lot of talking, you have to be clean in your performance and he wasn't tonight and that was disappointing. I think the team as a whole did defend quite well at times."

United had thought they were heading into the second leg with a 2-1 advantage, but Onana was then partly at fault for Cherki's last-minute equaliser, parrying a shot he possibly should have saved.

The Frenchman pounced quicker than anyone else to turn it home and send United back to Old Trafford with a draw and perhaps some difficult decisions for Amorim.

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