Paul Scholes lifts lid on Nemanja Matic chat after Andre Onana war of words

Paul Scholes and Nemanja Matic were seen in conversation before Manchester United’s clash with Lyon after the Serbian had hammered Andre Onana last week for comments he made

Paul Scholes told Nemanja Matic to leave Andre Onana alone after their war of words last week. The former Manchester United midfielder took aim at the current Old Trafford No 1 after Onana had begun backing his own team to advance from their Europa League quarter-final.

Matic took issue with Onana claiming United were more likely to win their European tie as he said “we are better than them”. The ex-Red Devils midfielder took aim at the Cameroonian, whom he described as “one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United history”.

Onana would go on to make several errors in the game in France, which finished all square after Lyon scored a late equaliser. His mistakes saw him dropped by Ruben Amorim for United’s loss at Newcastle on Sunday, before the shotstopper was recalled for the Lyon return leg.

Before the game at Old Trafford Scholes was seen in dialogue with the Serbian. He detailed their conversation on TNT Sports: “I just told him to leave our goalkeeper alone… but no that was it.

“He was some player Matic, he looks well. Obviously I played against him quite a few times, me and Rio when he was at Chelsea. He was just saying he’s nearly 37, he’s got another year left. He looks fit, he looks strong, but hopefully he doesn’t have a good night tonight.”

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Matic left Manchester back in 2022 and moved to the French side. The ex-Chelsea man, who has two Premier League titles to his name, and can also took aim at Onana’s lack of success thus far. He said: “At least I’ve lifted trophies with the greatest club in the world. Some can’t say the same.”

Onana’s tenure with the Premier League giants has been error-prone and he had plenty doubting Erik ten Hag’s decision to rid off David de Gea so that he could sign the ex-Ajax man for just shy of £50million.

Scholes admits that Onana will likely wish he avoided poking their opponents last week. “He is probably wishing he kept his mouth shut, it (the first goal) is a really bad mistake,” he said. “Decent ball in, he gets across the front post, Yoro plays him on. I’m not sure what the keeper is trying to do, the ball bounces right in front of him, it’s an awful mistake.”

Amorim has seen Onana make errors that have contributed to several losses, but underlined his faith in his goalkeeper in the build-up to their European clash as he said: “He’s going to be really good tomorrow, I’m sure of that”.

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