Manchester United’s No 24, Andre Onana, endured a nightmare return to Ruben Amorim’s starting XI on Wednesday evening.
His shaky goalkeeping performance was compounded by a sluggish team display that saw the Red Devils fall victim to a cup upset against League Two Grimsby at Blundell Park.
There is now nowhere to hide for Amorim and his ever slumping Red Devils.
The young Portuguese coach faces questions over his future as United’s seventh full-time boss post-Sir Alex Ferguson, and further scrutiny over the quality of goalkeepers at his disposal, an issue that has lingered throughout his tenure.
Both Onana and Altay Bayindir have faced serious criticism from fans and pundits, with Amorim forced to defend both keepers only three games into the season.
After their 1-0 defeat by Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal on the opening weekend, Amorim was asked whether he should consider starting 39-year-old third choice Tom Heaton, after Bayindir’s error from a corner allowed the Gunners to get off to a winning start in their title push.
Andre Onana is facing an uncertain future at Manchester United after his latest dismal showing
Ruben Amorim defended the shot stopper after his two errors cost United in their League Cup defeat by Grimsby
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It was a similar mistake to the one that saw United crash out of last season’s Carabao Cup away to Tottenham in the quarter-final.
Amorim doubled down in gameweek two, starting Bayindir again in their 1-1 draw away at Fulham, leaving £43million signing Onana, formerly of Inter and Ajax, on the bench.
The Cameroonian made his first start of the season in Wednesday night’s cup exit to the Mariners. The tie went to a marathon shootout of 26 spot kicks, with Onana saving one, but it was another game to forget on a rain soaked Cleethorpes pitch for a man once tipped as David de Gea’s heir.
Few would now argue that Onana has lived up to the task of replacing the Spaniard, who made 415 league appearances for United.
In De Gea’s final two seasons, he made 104 appearances and was guilty of six errors leading to goals and nine leading to shots.
Onana, in two fewer matches, has surpassed both tallies with 13 errors leading to goals and nine leading to shots. Since signing, he has topped the charts for errors leading to goals across Europe’s top five leagues.
In 102 appearances, he has been directly responsible for four goals conceded, more than Arsenal’s David Raya and City’s Ederson.
At Blundell Park, another set piece proved costly when Onana spilled a deep in-swinging cross from a short corner routine, allowing Grimsby to double their lead on the half hour mark.
The Cameroonian was signed to replace the much-loved David De Gea, who made 415 appearances for the club
Onana has made more mistakes leading to goals than De Gea in his final and most disappointing two years
It was a familiar failing. Against Lyon last season and Galatasaray in 2023, he fumbled in similar circumstances.
Amorim again defended his under-fire No 1, saying: ‘When you play against a fourth division team, it’s not the goalkeeper.’
Supporters of Onana may point to the fact he has made fewer errors leading to shots, 13, than Arsenal’s Raya, 17.
Even so, United have already been linked with replacements. Earlier this summer they failed with a loan bid for Aston Villa’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, while names such as Jan Oblak, Mike Maignan and Gianluigi Donnarumma were also touted.
More recently, the club have moved closer to a £17million deal for Royal Antwerp’s 22 year old Belgian Senne Lammens.
With Manchester United now under the stewardship of INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the question remains, is a younger pair of hands the answer to their goalkeeping crisis, or will another promising talent fall victim to the poison chalice that the No 1 shirt has become at Old Trafford?