Andre Onana endured a problematic start to life at Manchester United this season but has since proven to be one of Erik ten Hag’s standout performers.
Fans – and neutrals – were quick to question why the Dutchman had pushed to sign the £47.9 million goalkeeper last July, with most assuming that it was because he’d coached him during their time at Ajax.
While this may well still be the case, Onana has repaid his manager’s faith in recent months with his resurgent run of form.
It’s no secret that the Cameroonian leaked goals early on and accumulated a catalogue of costly errors, most of which came in the Champions League, which saw United exit at the group stage.
But as of late, Onana has been one silver lining in a tumultuous string of results for the Reds. Against Brentford on Saturday, he made five vital saves as an outrageous 31 shots were fired towards his goal – the most that the Bees have managed in a game for five years. Four of those hit the woodwork.
Onana leads way in goals prevented stat
As per a statistic shared by TNT Sports, the United shot-stopper has prevented the most goals (5.01) of any other ‘keeper in the Premier League in 2023/2024, while also recording eight clean sheets along the way.
No goalkeeper has prevented more goals than Andre Onana (5.01) in the Premier League this season.
He has also kept 8⃣ clean sheets, only David Raya has recorded more. pic.twitter.com/WpFvib8VWd
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 1, 2024
Such a feat is, of course, a testament to Onana’s abilities, although it does raise questions over the efficiency of the backline deployed in front of him. At the Gtech Community Stadium, both the defence and midfield were split wide open by Brentford’s relentless attackers, and United left West London counting their lucky stars that they’d scraped a point from the one-sided affair.
