Gary Lineker and Micah Richards were both on the same wavelength over one moment in Manchester United’s Community Shield defeat to Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday.
Manchester United returned to Wembley for the first time since their FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City in a 2-1 win in May.
Erik ten Hag’s men came close to beating City for the second consecutive time, with Alejandro Garnacho breaking the deadlock late in the second half of the match.
However, Pep Guardiola’s side rallied back after Bernardo Silva produced a crucial equaliser to cancel out Alejandro Garnacho’s opener for United.
United then fell short to City on penalties in the Community Shield, with the Premier League champions clinching a 7-6 win in the shootout.
Jadon Sancho and Jonny Evans both missed their spot-kicks efforts for United, while Bernardo Silva failed to convert City’s opening penalty of the shootout.
Lineker and Richards react to Man Utd star
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Gary Lineker and Micah Richards dropped their verdicts on what they saw from Andre Onana during the shootout.
Andre Onana taunted Erling Haaland when he stepped up for Manchester City’s third penalty and even pointed to the direction in which he should shoot.
The 28-year-old Manchester United shot-stopper positioned himself towards the left side of the post as he egged Erling Haaland to shoot in the opposite direction.
Haaland comfortably converted the penalty down the left-hand side, as Onana quickly shifted on his line and dove in the wrong direction.
“What is he doing?!” Richards asked.
“I don’t mind the mind games, but if they don’t come off, they look stupid, don’t they?”
Lineker was baffled by Onana’s mind games before admitting it was “quite funny” to see the United star run across his line and dive in the wrong direction.
“It was quite funny because he [Onana] just started running across his line – and then dived away from where the ball was,” he said.
Ten Hag on Man Utd and Community Shield defeat
Erik ten Hag will now turn his attention to Friday for United’s first match of the 2024-25 Premier League season against Fulham at Old Trafford.
The 54-year-old United boss admitted he was “very pleased” with parts of his side’s performance and urged the Red Devils to bounce back against Fulham.
“I was very pleased,” Ten Hag said, as per Manchester United’s official website.
“After half an hour, we were very competitive and we came in the fight and we were passionate in the fight and that is what we demand from our players.
“It was very good and we can take this into next week [against Fulham].”
He added: “You have to feel the pain. You have to get fuel from it to make it a successful season but also take the positives that we can bring, against a very good ball-playing team, press on the ball and we can, against a very good pressing team, outplay them.”
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
