'He's stepped up': Rio Ferdinand singles out 45-touch United star for praise after 3-0 loss vs Tottenham
Rio Ferdinand has heaped praise on one Manchester United star following the club’s 3-0 Premier League defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The Red Devils made the worst possible start at Old Trafford with Brennan Johnson scoring for Spurs after just three minutes on the clock.
Micky van de Ven made a superb lung-bursting run from his own box and he was left unchallenged before laying his pass for Johnson.
Diogo Dalot was partly to blame for the goal, having stopped marking Johnson’s run into the box.
Things turned worse before the interval with Bruno Fernandes’ sending off for a rash challenge on James Maddison in the 42nd minute.
Spurs ended up winning 3-0 after second half goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke.
The margin of defeat could have been wider. United have to thank Andre Onana, who made some brilliant saves to spare humiliation.
The Cameroon international made seven brilliant stops during the game including two against Timo Werner in one-on-one situations.
Speaking after the result, Ferdinand appreciated the efforts of Onana between the sticks and said that he has stepped up for United this term.
The 45-year-old added that he is the only one who comes out of the game with any sort of credit.
He said on his YouTube channel: “Do you know who I’ve got to give a shout out to, who got a lot of stick last season? Onana.
“Without him, it’s six or seven today. Onana has been good this season, he’s stepped up, he’s made some big saves.
“Yes there’s been the odd thing here [and there] but he’s been what you want to see. What I expected to see from Onana is what I’m seeing this season.
“He’s the only one today who comes out of the game with any sort of credit, any sort of positives.
“He can walk away with his head high. He won’t because he’ll be sitting there hurting, he conceded three goals. But he wasn’t at fault for any of the goals, he kept us in the game.”
Aside from his seven saves, Onana was successful with seven long balls and had 45 touches in the game.
It was a forgettable evening for the Red Devils and the club can’t ponder over the result anymore.
They have two tough away trips versus Porto and Aston Villa before the next international break.
United need to return to winning ways in the Europa League clash in Portugal on Thursday night.
Fernandes will be eligible to face Porto, but will remain suspended for the next three league games.
United have the option to challenge the red card. We should know more about their decision soon.
Stats from Sofascore.com