ERIK TEN HAG has defended Andre Onana amid his recent errors by claiming he is the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League.
The Manchester United manager pointed to a key statistic to back up his claim – goals prevented.
Opta stats show Onana has prevented 3.6 goals this season, which ranks as the second-best in the Premier League behind Luton’s Thomas Kaminski who has prevented 6.3 goals.
That led Ten Hag to claim he is amongst the best goalkeepers in the division – the Dutchman said: “If you analyse it well then you see he is the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League based on stats.”
Onana, 27, also ranks second in the Prem for save percentage – stopping 76.1 per cent of shots he has faced this season.
Only Liverpool star Alisson boasts a better percentage while Onana has also kept five clean sheets, a feat not bettered by any other goalkeeper.
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Onana’s 51 saves means he averages a save every 22.9 minutes – only Wes Foderingham and Neto have made a save more frequently.
But while stats show Onana has performed well, the United No1 has made several blunders this campaign which have often resulted in goals being conceded.
That was the case in mid-week against Galatasaray when the Cameroon international palmed Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick into his own net.
Onana also made howlers against Bayern Munich and Brentford and was fortunate not to concede a penalty on his Red Devils debut against Wolves.
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Onana also put in a questionable performance in the Old Trafford meeting with Galatasaray and has conceded more goals than any other keeper in the Champions League.
He has now made the most errors leading to opposition goals in the Champions League since 2018-19 with seven.
Jamie Carragher branded his performance in Istanbul as “unacceptable” and has accused the keeper of costing his side cheap goals.
He said: “Onana cost the team home and away against Galatasaray and was poor against Bayern Munich in the opening group game.
“Yes, he made a last-minute penalty save against Copenhagen at Old Trafford, but the numerous minuses far outweigh that one positive.
“The performance in Turkey was unacceptable for a Manchester United goalkeeper. You would not expect an Under-18 keeper to make the basic handling error for Galatasaray’s second goal.
“If a youth keeper was promoted and played like Onana on Wednesday evening, he would probably never feature for the first team again.
“Onana has cost United too many cheap goals. The hope that the worst was behind him after a poor start to his Old Trafford career has been blown out of the water and Wednesday was a huge step backwards.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
