Andre Onana was left out of Manchester United’s squad for Sunday’s Premier League game against Newcastle following the goalkeeper’s latest high-profile errors for the club.
The Cameroon international was partially at fault for both goals in United’s 2-2 draw with Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday and was not even a substitute for the game at St. James’ Park, with back-up keeper Altay Bayindir named in the starting lineup and third-choice Tom Heaton on the bench.
“Sometimes, you have to push the player to play again, sometimes you have to let him disconnect a little bit,” United head coach Ruben Amorim said. “You have to manage everything, sometimes people just look at the physical aspect but the mental aspect is really, really important.
“It’s for just one game and we give Altay an opportunity, he deserves it also and then, again, tomorrow is a new life and we will prepare for the next one.”
Onana was a serial title winner with Ajax and joined United from Inter Milan for $57 million in 2023, but has endured an error-strewn time since that move.
Last year he admitted he had to protect his mental health after a series of costly mistakes.
His mistakes against Lyon came after former United player Nemanja Matic described him as “one of the worst goalkeepers” in the club’s history.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
