Ruben Amorim revealed how the Manchester United dressing room felt after conceding a late equaliser against Lyon.
Manchester United drew 2-2 against Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie on Thursday night.
Andre Onana’s pre-match comments about Lyon dominated the headlines after sparking a reaction from former United midfielder Nemanja Matic. The spotlight remains on the Cameroonian goalkeeper following a performance that cost his side two goals.
A free kick from Thiago Almada evaded everyone in the penalty area, including Onana, to open the scoring after 25 minutes.
Ruben Amorim’s side fought back as goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee turned the game in United’s favour, but another error from Onana allowed Rayan Cherki to equalise in stoppage-time.
The result means United have it all to do next week in the second leg at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim takes positive from Lyon draw
Although Ruben Amorim couldn’t hide his disappointment after throwing away a late lead in Lyon, the United head coach was able to take a positive from how his players reacted to the game.
United take on Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday, but the focus is firmly on beating Lyon and securing a place in the Europa League semi-finals.
Amorim’s side must perform better to get that desired result against Lyon after the French outfit matched the Red Devils in most departments in the first leg.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Amorim was asked how Onana was feeling after a disastrous performance that could prove costly.
The Portuguese coach revealed he didn’t speak with Onana because he was busy trying to calm down. He also stressed that he took a positive from the dressing room’s ‘quiet’ reaction to the draw.
“No, I didn’t see him, to be honest with you,” Amorim said when asked about Onana. “I used these minutes to try calm down, to come here to say the right things.
“But it’s normal. And I think it felt really quiet, the dressing room. And that is a good thing. We draw away in Europe. That’s always hard.
“The team is suffering, but we need to change that and we have to the opportunity to change. So let’s focus on that.”
We can only assume that United’s first-team were deep in thought after missing the chance to take a winning lead back to Old Trafford for the second leg.
Amorim looks ahead to second leg vs Lyon
Ruben Amorim won’t be underestimating Lyon after a hard-fought first leg in France.
The United head coach believes his players will get more energy from playing in front of the Old Trafford faithful.
When asked about the second leg, Amorim stressed that both teams have a 50/50 chance of winning after a close first-leg encounter.
“No, I think it’s 50/50,” he added. “And then we have to be really smart in the next round, because we are going to play at home and our stadium with our fans, and they will give us energy.
“But at the same time, this team of Lyon wants to push us to make possession near the box, to have a lot of space to make transitions. So the next stage we need to play of course, with our heart, but we have to think a lot during the game.
“So it’s a really difficult match, but again, we are playing with our fans and when we play at home, we play with one more player.”
The Reds drew the first leg of their round of 16 tie with Real Sociedad before winning the second leg comfortably at the Theatre of Dreams.
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