Manchester United legend Roy Keane has claimed that Andre Onana is being “punished” after he was dropped from the matchday squad set to face Newcastle.
Earlier today, it emerged that Onana would be omitted from the squad after his disastrous performance in the 2-2 Europa League draw with Lyon at the Groupama Stadium on Thursday.
Onana was culpable for both goals conceded—firstly misjudging a free-kick from Thiago Almada, and later parrying a shot into the path of Rayan Cherki, who slotted home in stoppage time to bring Lyon level.
The Cameroonian’s mistakes came off the back of a bitter war of words with former Red Nemanja Matic. Onana said that United were “way better” than Lyon. These sentiments didn’t go down well with Matic, who branded the goalkeeper one of the worst in the club’s history.
Onana then took to social media to taunt Matic, particularly ridiculing the fact that the Serbian didn’t win a trophy during his five-year stint at Old Trafford.
With Onana left out of the matchday squad vs. Newcastle, Amorim has given the nod to Altay Bayindir, in what will be his first Premier League appearance.
Before kick-off, Keane was asked on Sky Sports to weigh in on the ongoing situation with Onana.
The Irishman said, “He [Onana] is obviously under pressure, and of course, football is about making mistakes, but of course, if you’re a goalkeeper and you make a mistake and it leads to a goal, then obviously, you’re going to be criticised.”
“It’ll be interesting if he is left out today because I think it’s also difficult for another goalkeeper to come in to get up to speed so quickly.”
“Maybe he’ll just leave him out for the weekend and almost recharge the batteries for the game coming up on Thursday, you know, we’ll see. But that’s the manager’s job is to make big decisions.”
Keane continued, “I think he’s done okay in the league. United defensively actually haven’t been too bad.”
“The big problem is going forward they don’t score enough goals, but the keeper has made some big mistakes and he’s been punished for it, so it’s a big call for the manager.”
Roy Keane comments on the news that André Onana isn’t in the Manchester United squad for the Newcastle game 💭 pic.twitter.com/0HFE5zc9YC
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 13, 2025
Newcastle vs. United kicks off at 16:30 BST.
Featured image Michael Steele via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
