Andre Onana was quizzed on the late penalty drama during Manchester United’s return to Premier League action.
The Cameroonian made his official debut after being named in Erik ten Hag’s first starting 11 of the campaign and overall, his maiden outing between the sticks was a resounding success.
A late incident meant that Onana’s saves and clean sheet weren’t the talking points of his performance, though.
VAR was called into action when the goalkeeper clashed with Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Sasa Kalajdzic and Onana clattered his hands into the forward, leaving him on the floor and clutching his head.
It happened as he was attempting to claim a cross in the fifth minute of injury time, with United looking to see out their 1-0 victory in the closing stages. After the VAR had been studied for several minutes, Simon Hooper opted against checking the pitchside monitor and resumed play, ruling out a spot-kick for the travelling side.
Gary O’Neil confirmed post-match that PGMOL’s Jon Moss admitted a penalty should’ve been given, and all match officials involved in the call have not been picked for the next round of fixtures.
Onana reacts to penalty shouts
Onana firmly believes he was innocent in the encounter and that the correct decision was made.
He said: “I told the referees, like I always say, the mistakes are around the post, so you make decisions as a goalkeeper. Sometimes you are right, sometimes not. I made the decision and I’m responsible for everything.
“For me, it was just a contact between two big guys and I was calm. The most important thing was for us to win and I am really happy for the victory.”
🗣️ “I made the decision and I’m responsible for everything. For me, it was contact between two big guys and I was down.”
André Onana says he was always confident that Manchester United were not going to concede a penalty against Wolves following his late challenge. 👀 pic.twitter.com/LMThmGXmJ2
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 15, 2023
Footage courtesy of Football Daily.
