Man Utd news: Lyon hero turns Andre Onana’s words against him as Ruben Amorim hails star

Andre Onana made two costly errors in Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Lyon and Rayan Cherki, who scored their late equaliser, has rubbed salt in the goalkeeper’s wounds

It’s crunch time in Manchester United’s season and Ruben Amorim has some big decisions to make. The Red Devils have been left with just the Europa League to play for after a torrid campaign domestically.

Thursday’s quarter-final first leg away to Lyon ended in a respectable 2-2 draw but United were so close to more. Joshua Zirkzee scored an 88th-minute header which looked to have given Amorim’s side a huge one-goal advantage going into the second leg at Old Trafford next Thursday.

But then came a howler form Andre Onana, who’d made an error for Lyon’s first goal to put United on the back foot. The Red Devils responded through Leny Yoro and later Zirkee, only for Onana to palm a shot out to Rayan Cherki in the last minute of stoppage time.

Before next Thursday’s second leg, United are in Premier League action against in-form Newcastle. Amorim won’t want the unwanted tag of being the first manager in the club’s history to finish a Premier League season in the bottom half but languishing in 13th, league games have become a thankless task.

Here’s round-up of the latest news from Old Trafford.

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Cherki turns Onana’s own words against him

Lyon forward Rayan Cherki, who scored their 95th-minute equaliser, has claimed that it was his team who were ‘way better’ than Manchester United, using Andre Onana’s own words against him. The goalkeeper declared in the build-up to Thursday’s match that he thought United were ‘way better’ than Lyon, leading to a public spat.

But having rescued a 2-2 draw for the French side, Cherki told Canal Plus: “We were way better than this team. They are a good team but we were never scared of them and we never will be scared of them. We will go there (to Old Trafford) to win, to attack, not to defend as they did here.”

Read Cherki’s full post-match comments here.

Will Manchester United beat Lyon in the second leg? Give us your score prediction in the comments section.

Amorim hails Zirkzee’s turnaround

Ruben Amorim has heaped praise on Joshua Zirkzee, who’s recovered from being booed off by Manchester United supporters to scoring crucial goals in Europe. Zirkzee, 23, has netted in both of the Red Devils’ away Europa League knockout matches, having been close to tears when Amorim subbed him off after just 33 minutes at home to Newcastle in December.

“Yes, he’s doing a great job,” the United boss hailed. “But also a very important thing was the way the fans reacted after that incident.

“Even if Josh is not playing, if you see every time he gets on the pitch or is just warming up, our fans sing the Josh song. That is massive for the boy. So it’s 50-50. 50 per cent the fans and 50 per cent on the part of Josh.”

Read more from Amorim’s pre-Newcastle press conference here.

Bayindir could replace Onana vs Newcastle

Andre Onana could be dropped by Ruben Amorim for Sunday’s trip to Newcastle. Following Onana’s two mistakes, Amorim is reportedly considering taking his No.1 out of the firing line putting Altay Bayindir in goal at St James’ Park.

The Mail report that there’ll be a number of changes to the starting line-up on Sunday, with Amorim expected to prioritise next Thursday’s second leg. Onana is yet to miss a Premier League fixture since joining Manchester United from Inter Milan for £47million in 2023.

Read the full story on Onana here.

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