Bruno Fernandes’ true feelings on Andre Onana speak volumes after horror Man Utd error | Football | Sport

Bruno Fernandes has thrown his arm around Andre Onana after the Manchester United goalkeeper was deemed at fault for Viktoria Plzen’s opening goal on Thursday night.

Onana was intending on passing to team-mate Matthjis de Ligt, only for the Cameroon international’s attempt to fall straight at the feet of the Plzen attacker.

A careless error if nothing else, but it comes after a difficult week for the Red Devils’ first-choice goalkeeper, with Onana criticised for his showing against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Misjudging the flight of the ball, Onana could only watch on in horror as Morgan Gibbs-White’s strike from the edge of the box swerved away from him and into the net.

The recent run of mistakes hasn’t dampened the faith United’s players have in Onana, with Fernandes coming out and reiterating that point after the come-from-behind-win.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Fernandes said post-match: “We want to play from the back and everyone knows that, then we have to make the right decision on the pitch.

“Andre [Onana] thought that Matta [De Ligt] could get on the ball but he missed it and they scored a goal.

“It is not about Andre making the mistake, we don’t look at individuals here when something happens on the wrong side.”

The Portuguese international continued: “We have huge belief in him. He knows he made a mistake because he is a clever guy, he is going to help us many times and we trust his qualities on the ball.

“Mistakes are part of football. If they don’t happen then goals don’t happen. But we did well to show the resilience to come back and find the victory.”

It looked like it was going to be another dismal day for new boss Ruben Amorim, but a second-half brace from Rasmus Hojlund helped turn things around for the three-time European champions.

However, the win was soured by a bust-up involving goalscorer Hojlund and Amad Diallo, after the latter refused to square the ball to the former late on in the game.

Despite the unsavoury scenes, Amorim insists he’s pleased to see the competitive nature of his players coming to the front.

Commenting on the incident he said: “It’s a normal thing. I think it’s a positive thing, a healthy thing, so I let the players and the captain to calm down the things.

“If I see it is too much, I will go inside the dressing room. But it’s their space, they have to talk, to fight and, again, for me it’s a very important thing.”

While on his team’s performance, he added: “In this moment, in this context, the way we give a goal to the opponent, it was important not to give up.

“That is a great message. It was not a great game, but we manage to do these good things that is good when you are building a team and I think we deserved the win.

“I am happy that we win the game and still fight each other. That is a very good thing.”