David Raya left Old Trafford with the gratitude of his teammates and manager Mikel Arteta after saving a point for Arsenal against Manchester United.
In all the commotion of Raya's amazing late salvation by Bruno Fernandes it was easy to overlook the fact that the goalkeeper on the other side of the field had played his role in earning a 1-1 draw in an entertaining meeting on Sunday.
It has been a difficult season for everyone at United, because the largest club in English has sunk to 14th place in the Premier League table, and Andre Onana is no different than one of his teammates.
There have been a few moments that he would rather forget; The spilled cross that led to the goal of Georginio Rutter for Brighton in Old Trafford, the shot of Morgan Gibbs-White that defeated Onana in the home defeat against Nottingham Forest, and the only subsequently subsequently placed Matej Vikdra Viktoria Plzen placed in the European League Republiek.
More recently, the role of Onana in the two goals of Ipswich in Old Trafford after a mix with Patrick Dorgu and a cross that came in on his distant mail when he expected that Liam Delap would make contact with the ball.
But if the strange decline is reminiscent of Ona's first season in United, the resilience to show that he has the character to bounce back.
Nobody could accuse Onana of hiding. While United players have fallen such as flies – including his two under studies Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton – the Cameroon keeper has been strong in the light of criticism and his mistakes made good.
Against Arsenal on Sunday, Onana had already tipped Martin Odegaard's shot in the second half when he got two late saves, from Gabriel Martinelli in his nearby pole and Odegaard to the right again. They were not entirely on the same way with Raya's blocks from Fernandes, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee, but just as crucial.
It was a similar story in San Sebastian on Thursday evening when Onana Brais Mendez and Orri Oskarsson denied to hold the last 16 draw in their Europa League against Real Sociedad.
And although Ruben Amorim's side went from the FA Cup to Fulham four days earlier, it cost Onanan's two saves from Emile Smith-Rowe and Ryan Sessegnon in extra time to be united for a shootout.
It was remarkable to Arsenal that he looked a lot stronger in the corners after giving up twice from set pieces against Arteta's side on the Emirates in December. There was little that Onana could do the excellent equalizer of Declan Rice in the 74th minute.
Fainting from the back remains a point of care – the Gunners tried to exploit it in the early stages of Old Trafford – but that is just as good as the defenders of United who comfortably get the ball under pressure than some problem with Onanan.
The 28-year-old has remained a mainstay of this united side during a turbulent season, especially in recent weeks when Bayindir and Heaton were injured and the bank of United was filled with Rookie keepers such as Elyh Harrison, Dermot Mee, Hubert Graczyk and William Murdock.
It was a challenging learning curve at United, even for a man who played in a Champions League final and held a goal for large European clubs such as Inter Milan and Ajax.
From the moment Onana was lobed in the summer of 2023, from the debut against Lens against Lens after a £ 47.2 million switching of Inter to join his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag in Old Trafford, he started to appreciate the Magnitude for United and the control it is.
He knows that every action will be analyzed, every error strengthens and taxed.
The pressure is huge, especially when you play in goal for Manchester United during probably the worst season since the club was banned in 1974. Errors and criticism are inevitable.
United has at least a keeper in Onana who will always get up to be counted.
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