A modest Andre Onana said confidence was key to the miraculous double save that ensured Manchester United took a point away from their clash with Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Onana was a spectator for the vast majority of the game but was called into action midway through the second half when Eddie Nketiah’s low strike came his way. After parrying it away, Onana quickly got back to his feet and threw himself in the way of Ismaila Sarr’s rebound, which looked destined to nestle into the back of the net.
Double saves have been the talk of the town recently after Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya’s sublime stops against Atalanta in midweek. While Onana admitted his save was “an important moment”, he rejected suggestions it was anything spectacular.
“But the most important thing was the victory because we didn’t win today, so it’s tough after having so many chances,” the United stopper said when the significance of his save was reiterated to him.
“When I see the quality in front, it’s very painful for me, but I’m happy for the willingness of the team, we had more control, we were better than them and had better chances. I know in football sometimes the ball doesn’t go through [into the net], like today, so hopefully my guys will score like they did in the last couple of games [in the coming fixtures].”
Asked what was behind his ability to make that save, Onana continued: “It’s confidence. You just believe in yourself and things will turn because I said this last year when I started here because I had a difficult start. Football is momentum.
“I had difficulty in the first six months at the club and after I turned around my situation. So it’s just believing in yourself and following the flow now everything is going positive.”
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