Man Utd records 1st Champions League win this season after 97th-minute save by Onana
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has claimed that he was simply doing his job when he saved a 97th-minute penalty in Tuesday’s 1-0 win at home to Kobenhavn.
The Red Devils picked up their first points of this season’s Champions League group stage with a narrow and largely unconvincing win against the Danish champions, with Harry Maguire scoring the winner midway through the second half at Old Trafford.
Kobenhavn made a strong account of themselves throughout the evening and were handed a glorious opportunity to take a point when Scott McTominay conceded a penalty for a high boot deep into second half stoppage time.
Jordan Larsson – son of former United player Henrik – stepped up, but his effort from 12 yards was beaten away by Onana, who was then mobbed by his teammates as the full-time whistle sounded.
Onana has come in for intense scrutiny since his summer move to United from Inter, putting in a series of underwhelming performances and continually being at fault for goals conceded.
Onana stood tall to deny Larsson / Jan Kruger/GettyImages
Speaking to United’s media team post-match, Onana explained how he was able to deny Larsson and preserve the three points.
“Just doing my job!” Onana began. “I was calm, bring the pressure, make myself bigger, wait as long as possible and make the save.
“It was an important victory for us. We had to win this game because we are Manchester United, we are a very big club so we have a lot of ambition, a lot of expectation. So it was a very, very important win for us.”
United have now recorded three successive victories for the first time this season, with Tuesday’s triumph against Kobenhavn coming off the back of narrow 2-1 wins over Brentford and Sheffield United in the Premier League.
Erik ten Hag’s side return to domestic action on Sunday with the visit of crosstown rivals Manchester City. This will be the first meeting with Pep Guardiola’s side since falling to a 2-1 loss in the FA Cup final back in June.
Source: 90mins
