Manchester United have a new cult hero in Altay Bayindir, whose penalty-saving antics in normal time and during the penalty shootout carried the Red Devils past Arsenal and into the next round of the FA Cup.
The Turkish international has had to be patient for first-team chances, operating very firmly as backup to Andre Onana, but his performance at the Emirates Stadium will be remembered for a very long time.
Despite being rightly criticised for his wayward distribution, Bayindir single-handedly kept United in the tie when he saved Martin Odegaard’s penalty with 20 minutes to go and the game on a knife edge at 1-1.
Speaking to the BBC after the game, the 26-year-old was self-effacing. He said: “I just help my team. I am working every day, I am patient, I just want to help this great team.
“I want to make everyone happy for this great club. I’m working here every day.”
Bayindir made six saves, including from Odegaard’s penalty, to keep the Arsenal attackers at bay and keep his side in with a shout as they dug in to make it to a shootout.
And when the chips were down in the penalty shootout Bayindir was once again the hero, diving low to his left to deny the hapless Kai Havertz.
It was quite a way to mark only his fifth appearance for the first team, after joining from Fenerbahce back in September 2023.
He said: “If you are not playing it doesn’t matter. You have to be ready every minute, every second, if you are a Man United player you have to be ready always.”
He was also full of praise for manager Ruben Amorim, for whom character and application is absolutely key.
“He is talking with us every day and he wants to help us. We love him and he’s always trying to do his best.
“He has a very good relationship with the players and we are trusting him, he is trusting us. We are fighting together.”
Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
