Andre Onana mistakes cost Manchester United against Galatasaray

The Cameroonian goalkeeper made two howlers which has put Manchester United on the brink of Champions League elimination.

What was expected to be a straightforward result, especially after Manchester United took a two-goal lead in Istanbul early on, turned into a nightmare with Andre Onana making the headlines for the wrong reasons once again. The former Ajax and Inter Milan goalkeeper is making a habit of conceding Champions League howlers following errors against Bayern Munich and Galatasaray at home already this season.

The story was the same against their Turkish opponents last night as he made two sloppy mistakes to gift Galatasaray a 3-3 draw in Istanbul. Following the result, United are now at the bottom of Group A with four points and are hanging on by a thread.

What will pain Manchester United fans the most is that Erik ten Hag’s side had the game won twice at 2-0 and 3-1 but went on to give away points from both those advantageous positions. How they have managed to score the most goals in the group but still remain at the bottom with only one round of fixtures left has puzzled football fans.

In their five Champions League group stage games so far, United have let in 14 goals. Only Royal Antwerp, who have lost every game in the group stage, have conceded more than the Red Devils.

"We win and lose together," Ten Hag said after the match, refusing to blame Onana, his £43 million summer signing from Inter Milan. "You see the progress in this team. I take many positives from this game. Some mistakes, we played like I want my team to play. It was enjoyable to watch that: proactive, dynamic, brave and we scored great goals. Even after we had some setbacks, we kept going until the end and we should have won with big chances from Scott McTominay and Facundo Pellistri.

"Of course, I am disappointed because we should have managed the game better, we will learn from that."

What will particularly be frustrating for the Dutch manager is the fact that before Onana’s mistakes, his players had done the hard part and taken control of the game. They were by far the better team on the pitch for large spells and it was Alejandro Garnacho, hero of Sunday’s overhead kick goal against Everton, who drew first blood.

The finish here may not have been as fancy but it was still a daunting strike from near post that found the left top corner. He responded with the “calma, calma” celebration in front of a thousand screaming Turkish fans who responded with projectiles.

Bruno Fernandes doubled United’s lead with a screamer from outside the box but Hakim Ziyech was twice the beneficiary of extremely sloppy goalkeeping from Onana which allowed the hosts to come back into the game. Sandwiched between his free-kicks was a third - and a first Champions League goal - for Scott McTominay.

Onana could do little to stop substitute Kerem Aktürkoglu's bullet finish to make it 3-3. By that stage, though, the damage had already been done.

"He is OK," Ten Hag said of Onana. "As I said, it is not about individuals. Of course, individual errors in football can make a difference and you take responsibility for it, but it is always about the team. This team is good, all the players in the squad are good and deserve the best, to play for Manchester United, because they are brilliant players. And that counts for the whole squad.

"As a team, we have to learn because we are conceding too many goals and it is unnecessary and avoidable. I am sure our team is experienced enough and capable enough to manage this, and we will do better."