Former England international slams Onana's 'fundamentally bad' goalkeeping in Man Utd loss to Nottingham Forest
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Manchester United's Andre Onana against Nottingham Forest | Imago

Former England international slams Onana's 'fundamentally bad' goalkeeping in Man Utd loss to Nottingham Forest

Ayoola Kelechi 16:20 - 08.12.2024

The Cameroonian goalkeeper has come under scrutiny for his dismal performance in Manchester United's most recent loss

Manchester United's rollercoaster Premier League season hit another low after a 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.

The loss, marked by a critical error from goalkeeper Andre Onana, prompted scathing criticism from pundits, with a former England international calling his error during the game "fundamentally bad goalkeeping."

Onana’s blunder proves costly

The Red Devils fell behind early to Nikola Milenkovic's second-minute goal but managed to level the score through Rasmus Hojlund.

Nottingham Forest celebrate a shock win at Manchester United | Imago
Nottingham Forest celebrate a shock win at Manchester United | Imago Nottingham Forest celebrate a shock win at Manchester United | Imago

However, the pivotal moment of the game came in the second half when Morgan Gibbs-White struck a long-range effort that caught Onana off-guard.

The Manchester United goalkeeper misjudged the trajectory of the shot, shifting his weight to his right only to see the ball flash past his leg and into the centre of the goal.

Andre Onana | (Credit: Telegraph)

The costly error left Manchester United trailing, and Forest capitalised further with Chris Wood scoring their third moments later.

Onana faces heavy criticism after costly error

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp was unforgiving in his post-match analysis. "He's falling backwards, his balance is wrong, he's got his weight on his heels," Redknapp said, adding, "I never played in goal, but that is fundamentally really bad goalkeeping.

Jamie Redknapp, Sky Sports pundit|| Imago

“You can talk about tactical tweaks all you like, but that goal changed everything. You're on the back foot."

Even former Manchester United defender Phil Jones, who defended Onana's overall contributions this season, admitted the Cameroonian would find the replay "a tough watch."

Morgan Gibbs-White against Manchester United. (Photo Credit: Forest/X)

Nottingham Forest's Gibbs-White, who scored the decisive second goal, revealed his surprise at Onana's misstep, saying, "I didn’t [think it was going in] at all, to be fair. I don’t want to discredit Onana; he’s an incredible goalkeeper, but when I had the shot, I thought he was going to pick it up."

Despite a spirited attempt to recover, including Bruno Fernandes scoring from the penalty spot, Manchester United failed to equalise, leaving them languishing in 13th place after their sixth league defeat of the season.