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Wednesday 15 January 2025 10:00
Altay Bayindir celebrated his Emirates FA Cup penalty heroics at Arsenal by taking his Manchester United team-mates out for dinner.
The Turkey international played a pivotal role in Sunday’s third-round victory at the Emirates Stadium, saving Martin Odegaard’s penalty as the 10-man Reds held on against Mikel Arteta’s side.
With nothing to separate the teams after 120 minutes, Bayindir proved to be the hero in the shootout, stopping Kai Havertz’s effort, while we scored with each of our five attempts from 12 yards.
Fellow goalkeeper Andre Onana was impressed with what he saw and revealed that Altay – a hugely popular figure in our dressing room – wanted to mark the occasion with food, as a thank-you gesture for his team-mates’ support.
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“We all congratulated him because he did a fantastic job. We are all proud of him,” said Onana.
“He’s here for a year and a half, or even more, and he’s working hard every day. Now he gets his reward. He deserves it.
“He invited us, by the way, to the restaurant [after the game] because he had such a nice performance. Hopefully, he’s going to invite us more, much more, because that means he will continue playing like this!”
Although Altay grabbed the headlines with his showing, in only his fifth United appearance, it was a real team performance in the capital, in testing circumstances after Diogo Dalot was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Onana believes United showed real team spirit in adversity, as well as qualities that will help us going forward under the Ruben Amorim regime.
“I also want to thank our defenders, our midfielders, our strikers, the whole team,” he continued. “They were very tough.
Full 120: Arsenal v United Video
Full 120: Arsenal v United
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“The staff and even us, we were on the bench and we were supporting them because we were fighting with 10 [men] for more than 55 minutes and, in the end, we won. That is the way to go. This is the right direction.
“We fight until the end with that patience, with that determination. I saw my guys giving everything.
“Returning against Arsenal away was not easy and, in the end of the game, we won the penalty [shootout]. It’s one of the nicest games I ever see, because winning that way is just unbelievable.”
Onana will be hoping to return to the team and continue his 100 per cent appearance record in the Premier League when Southampton visit Old Trafford on Thursday (20:00 GMT kick-off).
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Wednesday 15 January 2025 10:00
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