'He did not match his skills' - Andre Onana's poor start to life at Man Utd acknowledged by Erik ten Hag but No.1 goalkeeper praised for showing 'personality' in Champions League

  • Onana saved penalty in stoppage time
  • Helped United beat Copenhagen 1-0
  • Ten Hag lavished praise on keeper

WHAT HAPPENED? The Cameroonian goalkeeper stood tall between the sticks to hand the Red Devils their first win in the Champions League this season after he kept out a 97th-minute penalty from Jordan Larsson. Onana has come in for criticism since his summer move from Inter Milan, and made high profile errors in United's first two group stages fixtures against Bayern Munich and Galatasaray. Ten Hag admits that the goalkeeper hasn't shown his best level consistently at Old Trafford, but was pleased with his latest performance.

WHAT THEY SAID: "It is incredible, a great night, especially in the last dying seconds we concede a penalty, which should not happen," the United boss told TNT Sports. "But then it was a brilliant save from Andre. He has shown personality, he knows the levels, he has shown before what his skills are. He did not match his skills but I think Saturday was a very good performance and today as well. Also don't forget his save after half-time on the counter-attack. And one of his skills is that he is a very good penalty saver."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Despite the three points, which came courtesy of Harry Maguire's 72nd-minute header, Ten Hag moaned about a couple of contentious refereeing decisions and insisted that United should have had a penalty when Marcus Rashford was brought down.

"We conceded such a soft penalty and I think we should have had a penalty on Rashford, I do not know why that is not a penalty," he said. "But we dealt with it and that is a step up from a few weeks ago when we got out of rhythm when we had some setbacks from refereeing decisions. But now we stayed calm after a poor first half and in the second half, we stepped up and all over, we created more chances than them. And finally, the win is justified, but it was a narrow escape in the end."

IN TWO PHOTOS:

Onana saves penalty Manchester United CopenhagenGetty

Erik ten Hag Manchester United 2023-24Getty Images

WHAT NEXT? After picking up their first points in the Champions League, Ten Hag will hope his team can take confidence into their first derby clash of the season against Manchester City on Sunday.

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