Andre Onana took to the field for his Premier League debut on Monday night as Manchester United hosted Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford.
While Onana showed flashes of brilliance, he did face several moments of difficulty against Wolves, albeit mostly stemming from errors by his defenders.
During the opening minutes, Onana showed confidence on the ball as Man United decided to play out from the back from the get-go.
Unfortunately, United’s deep, low-intensity playing style handed Wolves the confidence they needed to come out of their shells and begin to bombard the Red Devils’ penalty box, forcing Onana to make several saves before the half-time whistle.
Even as the game wore on, the Red Devils failed to change up their playing style, with the Cameroonian shot-stopper being called into action yet again just moments after the restart.
Striker Matheus Cunha got on the end of a rapid counter-attack, slipping through the gap in United’s defence and forcing the Cameroonian keeper to make a full-stretch save to tip the ball out for a corner.
Cunha took two more shots against Onana, both near and far-range, with United’s new keeper showing his worth by keeping the game goalless before his team earned a 1-0 lead.
In the 93rd minute, Hwang Hee-chan came close to levelling the scoreline, firing his shot at the bottom left corner of United’s goal.
Yet again, Onana was well-placed to handle the shot, however, Wan-Bissaka was able to get a leg to it to deflect it wide.
As a goalkeeper who specializes in playing with the ball at his feet, Onana left a lot to be desired by completing just 24 of his 36 passes for a 67% pass accuracy.
He also came close to handing Wolves a penalty in stoppage time when he jumped up to challenge Craig Dawson in an aerial duel, clashing with the player and missing the ball.
Still, Onana’s six saves, many of which were crucial, proved that the Cameroonian is a more than capable shot-stopper who the Red Devils can rely upon to carry them over the line even when they are playing as poorly as they did against Wolves.
Stats via Sofascore.com