Lyon 2 Manchester United 2 – Zirkzee pounces, Onana’s errors, Yoro’s first goal

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It’s all square in this Europa League quarter-final. Roll on April 17 at Old Trafford.

Manchester United rarely do things the easy way and thought they had the advantage in this tie when Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench to make it 2-1 in the final minutes of normal time, but Rayan Cherki had other ideas, scoring in the 95th minute.

Somewhat predictably, Andre Onana gifted Lyon an opening goal — having also given the hosts their pre-match team talk — with the goalkeeper’s indecision allowing Thiago Almada to put Lyon ahead in the 25th minute. He did not cover himself in glory for Lyon’s equaliser, either.

But overall this was a positive evening for United, watched by owners Joel and Avram Glazer, as well as minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Leny Yoro scored his first United goal, equalising just before half time, and then substitute Zirkzee put United ahead after a beautiful delivery from Bruno Fernandes.

(Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

Laurie Whitwell and Anantaajith Raghuraman dissect the key talking points…

Did Onana’s words come back to haunt him?

Andre Onana said before this game that United are “way better” than their French opponents and, while that was a confident affirmation of his own team, former United midfielder Nemanja Matic took issue and then fired away at the goalkeeper’s statistics. Onana, he said, is “one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United’s modern history”.

Onana’s reply, pointing out Matic won nothing while at Old Trafford, meant he needed to walk the walk after all the talk. Instead, he crumbled at a crucial moment.

Thiago Almada’s in-swinging free kick from out wide was well struck, and Onana had to wait to see if either of the Lyon players making moves towards the ball changed its course. It bounced just in front of him too. But he had plenty of time to push the ball wide of the post and instead he let it slip through his hands. It recalled to mind his mistakes away at Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League.

(Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

The television cameras failed to pan to Matic, who started on the bench, but it was easy to picture his knowing smile. “Probably wishing he’d kept his mouth shut,” said Paul Scholes in the TNT studio.

Any hopes Onana had for the offside flag came to nothing because Moussa Niakhate and Nicolas Tagliafico, who each tried to divert the ball, were both played onside by Yoro. It went down as Onana’s eighth error leading to a goal at United.

The goal ruffled his side, who had started well, with several players making mistakes in the following minutes. Harry Maguire erred on the ball, Noussair Mazraoui gave possession easily to Rayan Cherki, and Diogo Dalot was booked for a bad sliding foul on Tagliafico.

Onana was booed by the vocal Lyon fans when he first got on the ball in the game but showed steadier hands to hold Almada’s shot later in the first half before palming the ball back into the box in the lead-up to Lyon’s equaliser.

Laurie Whitwell

First goal of many for Leny Yoro?

Leny Yoro’s United career has been quietly gaining momentum after an injury-hit start, and his goal just before half time will boost his status even more.

His header was a really smart adjustment to Manuel Ugarte’s wild hook back into the box following Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick. Lyon goalkeeper Lucas Perri should have done better than punch clear, only as far as Ugarte, but it still required Yoro to sense the chance, leap high and act quickly to guide the ball in.

Alejandro Garnacho’s clever run had drawn the foul in a good area for United, and Yoro scoring came at a crucial time seconds before the break.

(Franco Arland/UEFA via Getty Images)

After waiting until December to make his debut following a foot injury sustained in pre-season, Yoro has been building up his minutes and understanding with team-mates, putting in good displays against Arsenal and Manchester City recently.

Aside from his goal, he also pressed high on Cherki to win the ball back — just as the system needs — and made a good tackle on Georges Mikautadze to stop the Georgian’s run into the box.

Yoro even went on a dribble of his own, cutting in well from the left centre-back spot – where he has mainly featured recently – up to the edge of the box and firing a shot wide.

Only 19, United have high hopes for Yoro, who had another good experience on this ground, where he played the full match for Lille in November 2023 having just turned 18. Lille won that game 2-0.

Laurie Whitwell

Bruno the (frustrated) creator?

Bruno Fernandes was United’s utility man once again, mopping up in defence, creating chances and posing a threat with his set-piece deliveries. His assist for Zirkzee’s goal was an exquisite dinked cross — just as a United attack seemed to have run out of steam after Lyon spurned multiple chances. But those were accompanied by multiple moments of frustration.

The early issues arose due to Lyon’s out-of-possession structure. While they did not press high, they man-marked Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte with Thiago Almada and Corentin Tolisso, disrupting United’s chances of progressing play from back to front through the middle. It resulted in multiple long balls over the top that Lyon intercepted. Fernandes began dropping deeper early on to help resolve the issue, giving Casemiro and Ugarte the freedom to escape their markers, but it rarely resulted in clear openings, with Lyon even dispossessing United’s No 6s in midfield to counter, drawing Fernandes’ ire.

Midway through the half, Onana fired a long pass down the middle towards Rasmus Hojlund that Lyon picked off, with Fernandes just behind him. Fernandes instantly turned and frustratedly remonstrated to Onana, indicating that he made the wrong pass.

United’s goal at the end of the first half and increased control after the break helped limit those frustrations but a telling moment came in the 69th minute. An excellent block by Noussair Mazraoui led to a United counterattack as Garnacho raced forward with Zirkzee and Fernandes for support against two Lyon defenders. Garnacho held on for too long as Zirkzee ran outside of him but chose to find Fernandes who had paused his run, unsure of what Garnacho would do. The Argentine’s pass was overhit and Fernandes failed to control it sufficiently, allowing Lyon to clear.

As United jogged back to defend the Lyon counter, Fernandes looked exasperatedly at Garnacho and then up to the skies. Rayan Cherki’s injury-time equaliser is unlikely to have helped his mood too much and he wore a disappointed look while applauding the away fans at full time.

Anantaajith Raghuraman

A forgettable night for Hojlund?

Rasmus Hojlund has been much more effective in Europe than domestically this season, with five goals in 10 Europa League matches entering this game. But this was another forgettable night for a player desperately lacking in confidence.

Hojlund had just 10 touches in the first half and attempted three passes, his lowest in a Europa League first half this season. Despite that, he had two chances, the first of which came from Patrick Dorgu cutback after United won the ball high up the pitch. Dorgu’s pass was to Hojlund’s stronger left foot but his mistimed swipe dribbled tamely wide of the far post. Shortly after, he did well to intercept Corentin Tolisso’s pass and charged forward but ran wide and his right-footed shot went through the legs of a defender but straight to Lyon goalkeeper Perri.

(Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Hojlund was fairly anonymous for his remaining half an hour on the pitch barring one header from a cross that inadvertently fell to Casemiro, who shot acrobatically at Perri. His reaction to being substituted for Joshua Zirkzee in the 63rd minute was a mildly frustrated shrug with minimal complaints.

It leaves his record for the season at eight goals in 42 appearances. The wait for the elusive turnaround game continues.

Anantaajith Raghuraman

What next for United?

Sunday, April 13: Newcastle (Away), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET

The second leg against Lyon at Old Trafford kicks off at 8pm UK (3pm ET) on Thursday April 17.

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(Top photo: Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

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