Onana in spotlight as Newcastle fans send message to struggling Man Utd keeper
If Andre Onana had been successfully managing to block out the noise that followed his disastrous evening in Istanbul on Wednesday, he never stood a chance to keep on doing that at St James' Park on Saturday night.
The game wasn't 300 seconds old when the ball was first passed back to the Cameroonian in his penalty area, an act which drew the howls of derision last heard in these parts when Mike Ashley was still around. The Toon Army were going to be on Onana's case, and they were letting him know about it.
It was a moment which set the tone for the game, with Newcastle easily bypassing their visitors' woeful attempts at pressing, led from the front by Antony Martial and Marcus Rashford's pitiful efforts. If Onana was under fire, he was hardly being helped by many of his team-mates.
Not that he was helping himself either. One unconvincing attempt at punching out an early corner was met with cries of "Dodgy keeper!" from the home fans, and when Diogo Dalot bizarrely risked giving away a penalty in order to not allow the ball to run through to his goalkeeper you could sense the tension.
It is tense throughout Manchester United right now of course, as Erik ten Hag and Martial's first half row showed, but you can't help but note that it stems from the back.
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Onana is still determined to be himself (PETER POWELL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Onana is clearly a talented goalkeeper who can do all of the things you want a goalkeeper to do, as a smart first half stop from Miguel Almiron showed, but he all too often finds himself in situations where he struggles and can look weak.
There was another weak punch towards the end of the first half, shortly before he watched on helplessly as Kieran Trippier floated a brilliant free-kick onto the underside of the crossbar.
There was nothing he could have done about that, just as there wasn't anything he could do about Trippier's ball across the six yard box for Anthony Gordon to steer home what was the game's only goal.
The goalkeeper was beaten by Antony Gordon for the winner (PETER POWELL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)That was a goal which had been coming though as Newcastle built sustained pressure and Manchester United seemed unable or incapable to hold them off. A weak kick straight out of play from Onana was a part of that, as the goalkeeper did the exact opposite of relieving pressure on his team.
The former Inter Milan man is reportedly a strong character and someone who won't compromise his game regardless of form or criticism, and sure enough he was soon out of his goal and running the ball through his legs as he looked to help his side build from the back - one of the main reasons he was signed - and get back in the game.
Ultimately it was the failings of those ahead of him which were chiefly responsible for this, a 10th defeat of the season for United in all competitions, but for now Onana is going to carry on facing the spotlight, and he doesn't look comfortable in it.
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