Manchester United’s Champions League campaign hangs by a thread after another dismal showing in the group stage on Wednesday, and it was just more of the same. The Red Devils blew a 2-0 lead and drew at Galatasaray 3-3, leaving the English club in fourth place in Group A as goalkeeper and defensive woes continue to do them in. While they remain just one point behind second-place Copenhagen, Wednesday’s result sees them in an extremely difficult position ahead of Matchday 6 where they must beat Bayern Munich and have Copenhagen and Galatasaray draw.
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Captain Bruno Fernandes touched on the goals conceded after the game, which saw Andre Onana miscalculate two Hakim Ziyech free kicks in what was just another blunder in a season full of them.
“It’s really hard. We conceded really bad goals,” Onana told TNT Sports. “We have to take control of the situations in all of them. We were on top of the game twice and we had far too many chances to have the game closed. We were not clinical enough. I have nothing to explain. We concede the two goals and there’s nothing we can do now. Obviously, we could have done better with those two goals but it is what it is. Every time we conceded a goal we had many chances to score again. At the end of the game, we had four chances. We have to lift our heads up and try to get the best players in the best positions and not take chances ourselves.”
This has been part of a concerning trend as Onana’s performance got Ziyech into our team of the week. On the first free kick, he left the back post exposed in a position he just can’t concede from.
On the second, he just fumbled it.
Back in September, Onana took the blame for the 4-3 loss at Bayern Munich where the former Inter goalkeeper had another mistake-filled performance. In that instance, Onana requested an interview with CBS Sports after the match.
“I have to assume the responsibility,” Onana said on Sept. 20. “I think we lost this game because of me and the mistake I made, the goal we conceded.”
Wednesday was no different. A poor wall and defense in front of him, sure, but he was one of the world’s best goalkeepers last season, helping Inter make the UCL final.
Months later, his miscues are costing United their season as only Antwerp have conceded more goals in the group stage than United’s 14.
In their three road games in UCL, United have scored three goals in each — at Bayern, at Copenhagen, at Galatasaray. They didn’t win one of them.
