Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has credited first-team coach Steve McClaren for providing goalkeeper Andre Onana with an instruction prior to his 97th-minute penalty save in Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Kobenhavn.
Onana stood tall to deny Jordan Larsson’s late spot kick to seal the Red Devils’ first win in this season’s Champions League group stage following losses to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray.
The Danish champions competed well from start to finish at Old Trafford and created some of the game’s biggest chances but ultimately return home pointless due to Onana’s heroics.
Scott McTominay’s high-boot challenge on Mohamed Elyounoussi while defending a corner was deemed worthy of a penalty by referee Marco Guida, but before Larsson could step up from 12 yards, two notable incidents occurred.
The first was Alejandro Garnacho scuffing up the penalty spot without any match official noticing – an offence which would have been punished with a yellow card if spotted.
After that, United coach McClaren was seen racing to the edge of Ten Hag’s technical area to shout instructions at Onana, who would punch away Larsson’s penalty seconds later.
In his post-match press conference, Ten Hag admitted he did not see Garnacho’s antics, but did hail McClaren for doing his job and giving Onana advice prior to the penalty.
“It’s his job to give him advice, to coach, [an] instruction. And then, of course, Andre has to decide but he gives him some instructions,” he said. “He [Onana] showed personality and he knows that before, the levels of what his skills are, he didn’t match his skills and he could do better.
“I think Saturday [against Sheffield United] was a very good performance, today as well. Also, don’t forget that brilliant save just after half-time in the counter-attack. But don’t forget, one of his skills is he’s a very good penalty saver.
“You see this is a very good spirit in the dressing room, they are together, they fight together and they celebrate together. If we have setbacks, they support each other. That spirit is always needed to be a successful team.”
United have now won three games on the spin for the first time this season following a dire start to the 2023/24 campaign. Next up is the visit of Manchester City in the derby on Sunday.
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