Goalkeeper André Onana has taken the blame for Manchester United’s 4-3 loss to Bayern Munich in Wednesday night’s Champions League.
The Cameroonian keeper was at fault for Bayern’s opening goal of the game after a fairly straightforward shot from ex-Man City star Leroy Sané slipped through his fingers.
Despite getting back into the game through Rasmus Højlund‘s first goal for the club, United suffered even more misfortune when new signing Harry Kane scored a penalty following Christian Eriksen’s accidental handball, and the away side once again found themselves chasing a two-goal deficit.
The final few minutes of the game got even more frantic, with Casemiro pulling another one back for Erik ten Hag‘s side, Bayern hitting the post twice before and eventually adding a fourth through substitute Mathys Tel, only for the former Real Madrid midfielder to grab another with the last kick of the game.
While luck played its part at either end of the pitch, both good and bad, Onana came out after the game to state that it was his mistake that ultimately saw his team on the wrong end of the seven-goal thriller and even specifically requested to speak in a series of post-match interviews on behalf of the squad.
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"That mistake cost us the victory. It's because of me we didn't win today."
Onana takes the blame for his mistake against Bayern.
Speaking to club legend and a former world-class keeper, Peter Schmeichel reporting for CBS Sports, Onana made the brave choice to come out and publicly take the blame for the Red Devils’ disappointing return to the Champions League, insisting, “It’s because of me we didn’t win today”.
While he began by saying “mistakes are part of life for a goalkeeper” and that he was “happy with the effort of the team” overall, he went on to state, “I have to assume responsibility… the mistake I made for the goal we conceded came in a bad moment and at that time we were in control of the game.
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“After that goal, we fell down… it’s not an easy situation but it’s time to accept and be responsible… work hard and keep believing because we are Manchester United… sh*t happens”. He had similar words for TNT Sports too, summing up his interview in one answer: “I’m the one who let the team down”.
While the defeat will still be a tough one to take, the reaction to Onana’s honesty and willingness to front up in such a way from United fans has been positive, with many commenting “fair play” and calling it the kind of “classy” response they want to see.
He was also praised before the game for speaking on “togetherness”, adding that although they win and lose and draw as a team, he can take people pointing the finger at him.
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Onana on conceding ten goals: “Listen. Listen. We are in this together. We win together, we lose together. Clean sheet is for all of us. So when we concede goals the responsibility is Andre Onana. My teammates are working hard. And if they have to point finger, they have to point… pic.twitter.com/2r7LRp67M5
In fact, the former Ajax shot-stopper has been perfectly candid ever since he became David de Gea‘s successor and went on to admit, “I have a lot to prove because, to be honest, my start in Manchester is not so good”.
Nevertheless, he remained resilient through his various post-match interviews and insisted he simply has to take it on the chin and learn from the experience, with several online also reminding supporters that de Gea didn’t make a perfect start to life at Old Trafford either and made many similar mistakes towards the end.
In contrast, club captain Bruno Fernandes was quick to come out and defend Onana, stating: “Andre’s a great goalkeeper. He will keep giving us a lot of points, a lot of saves… He doesn’t have to take [the] blame for anything; we have to take the blame as a team.
“We’re going to go through this moment together because we’re strong as a team.”
His manager also made a point of making sure their new number one didn’t shoulder all the responsibility for the game either, noting that while “mistakes will always happen in football”, he wasn’t the only reason that goal ended up in the back of the net.
Sadly for the club, his stats thus far don’t make for great reading, having already conceded 16 goals in six games across all competitions — the most of any Premier League keeper this season.
What do you reckon Reds, do you blame Onana for the overall Bayern performance and some of United’s results this campaign, or is it just teething problems?
You can watch the full highlights of Bayern Munich vs Manchester United below:
Featured Image — Manchester United/Discovery+/CBS Sports/TNT Sports (via Twitter)
Sport
Scott Carson reveals important behind-the-scenes role at Manchester City
Danny Jones
Recently retired goalkeeper Scott Carson has revealed the unsung but important role he had behind the scenes during his time at Manchester City.
The 40-year-old ex-pro called time on his playing career after more than two decades and six years in sky blue, having made just two appearances for the club during a period in which they won 11 trophies.
Carson officially hung up his gloves on 23 October 2025, following his contract expiration, and since then has found himself carrying out a number of interviews, including one with Fozcast, hosted by another fellow shotstopper who spent time in Manchester, Ben Foster.
While lots of people have joked that he did very little to earn the flurry of medals so late in his career, or at the very least theorised as to what he actually did behind the scenes, he’s now been more open than ever about the largely sidelined spell.
🗣️ "When people had to be serious, they were serious"
Scott Carson reveals what it was like working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. pic.twitter.com/HZGjVkrso0
Sitting down with Sky Sports, the Cumbrian keeper confirmed that initially it was, indeed, just a case of serving as not even as a rotation option but a back-up third choice.
Nevertheless, he’s an experienced veteran with 11 different teams on his CV, including Leeds United, Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday – though only a handful of games for each – as well as half a century of appearances at Wigan Athletic before his longest stints at the likes of West Brom and Derby County.
While this job usually involves purely training, helping keep other players sharp, he says that after settling into the Etihad Campus a little more, he found himself performing a much more influential, albeit largely unsung, role in the background.
Getting validation from manager Pep Guardiola that the side “needed more of that”, he essentially ended up providing valuable seniority and motivation amongst the group, despite only playing a couple of times.
Bidding farewell to the Whitehaven-born cult hero, the club wrote: “During his time at City, Carson has been praised by goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor and peers Ederson and Stefan Ortega Moreno for his work ethic and the effect of his positive attitude amongst the group.”
Speaking about Guardiola specifically, he hailed the Catalan coach for having overhauled modern football in this country, as well as giving him the secondary task of supporting his teammates, be it via boosting morale and ‘picking up’ those left frustrated by matchday selection.
As well as noting his widely publicised detail-oriented nature, he also made a point of recognising that Pep himself was “evolving each season”, whether or not everyone else saw it.
In short, he said he has helped improve the quality of the Premier League and, more specifically, that he helped redefine what a goalkeeper can be in the division.
You can watch the rest of the interview in full down below.
Manchester set to host five UEFA EURO 2028 matches – including England’s opening game
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed to be the host of five matches at the upcoming UEFA EURO tournament in 2028.
This also, crucially, would include England‘s opening match, should they qualify directly.
The joint announcement by Manchester City and Manchester City Council today comes as UEFA has now released key details about the UK & Ireland 2028 competition – which, as it stands, is less than 1,000 days away.
It has been confirmed that the Etihad Stadium – which is known as The City of Manchester Stadium when not relating to Manchester City football club – will host four Group Stage matches across four different groups, offering both local and international football fans the chance to see a range of different national teams in action.
On top of this, Manchester will also be the host a Round of 16 knockout match as the tournament progresses.
UEFA EURO 2028 will kick off at the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff on Friday 9 June 2028, culminating in the Final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 9 July 2028.
Across the UK and Ireland, nine stadiums will host matches during the upcoming tournament – with other northern stadiums including Everton Stadium in Liverpool, and St James’ Park over in Newcastle.
More than three million tickets – as sold by UEFA – are set to be available for the tournament, and more information on this will be issued in due course.
Following an independent assessment, UEFA EURO 2028 is expected to generate up to £3.6 billion in socio-economic benefits for the UK and Ireland between 2028 and 2031, with benefits including job creation, regional growth, and direct spending from international visitors.
The countdown has started in Manchester for #EURO2028!
Five matches are scheduled to be played here – including England's opener if they qualify – and more than 300,000 fans will be welcomed to the city in June 2028.
Danny Jones -
21st September 2023 
