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Manchester United did not deserve anything from their Premier League game against Brentford and were lucky to escape the Gtech Community Stadium with a point in the end.
Despite being second-best for most of the game, Erik ten Hag must have thought his team had completed an unlikely smash-and-grab when substitute Mason Mount popped up to score in the sixth minute of added time.
The footballing gods could not allow for such a travesty and Kristoffer Ajer struck after a couple of minutes to ensure a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Prior to that, the Bees struck the frame of the goal on five separate occasions while Ivan Toney’s second-half goal was chalked off for offside.
Onana kept busy
Andre Onana was kept pretty busy with the Cameroonian making five saves on the night, with two quick-fire saves early in the second half the most impressive.
Right after Rasmus Hojlund was denied from almost point-blank range, the London team countered at pace with Yegor Yarmolyuk forcing a fantastic diving save from the former Inter Milan man.
Only Kaminski (111) & Areola (108) have made more saves in the Premier League than Andre Onana (107).
Another busy night for Andre. 🧤🧤🧤 pic.twitter.com/GMHbtoksDj
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) March 30, 2024
Onana had to keep his wits about him as Keane Lewis-Potter was the first to the rebound, like most of his teammates throughout the game, and Onana had to deny him as well.
The goalie also made two high claims and won all three of his duels while accurate playing seven long balls. His confidence seems to be on the way up despite his team’s poor showing (stats via Sofascore).
The United No 1 has now made 107 saves in his debut Premier League campaign, the third-most behind Thomas Kaminski of Luton Town (111) & Alphonse Areola of West Ham (108).
Renaissance man
Playing for Luton and West Ham often means the goalie has to work harder than most others in the same position but Onana must not have thought his first campaign in England would turn out to be so challenging.
After a few difficult initial months in which the former Ajax star made a number of high-profile errors both in the Champions League and Premier League, Onana has started to repay his manager’s faith since the New Year.
Ten Hag’s high-transition style is clearly not working with the opposition often countering at will and Onana has been kept quite busy but is coming up with the answers more often than not.
United have their shot-stopper to thank for not returning home empty-handed but the manager must set his team up differently if they are to stop this barrage of shots on goal.
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