Fenerbahce draw ´a big disappointment´, says Onana

Andre Onana says Manchester United’s draw with Fenerbahce in the Europa League “is a big disappointment” after the club failed to hold out for their first win in the competition.

Christian Eriksen had given the Red Devils the lead in the first half, but they were pegged back by Youssef En-Nesyri four minutes after the break in their 1-1 draw.

United have now won just one of their last eight games in Europe when scoring first (D5 L2), drawing each of their last four games when going 1-0 up.

It was a third consecutive stalemate in the Europa League for United, who were indebted to their goalkeeper as he made three saves, including an incredible double stop to keep his side in the lead at half-time, but he was left frustrated by the result.

“It is a big disappointment for me and the fans, for the club, as a Manchester United player you have an obligation to try to win,” Onana told TNT Sports.

“We didn’t win, but at least we didn’t lose. Not happy, of course, but we move on, take responsibility and go again.

“We conceded an early goal in the second half, we had to show character, and I think that is what we did. We didn’t win, but I thought we were better than them.”

We’re held to a draw in Istanbul.#MUFC || #UEL

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 24, 2024

United were without a number of players through injury or suspension, with Bruno Fernandes one of those to miss out after being sent off against Porto.

In fact, United have failed to win any of their last five away games without their captain in all competitions (D2 L3), with the Red Devils scoring just two goals in total across those five matches.

Despite the result, Erik ten Hag was keen to take the positives from a game which also saw them lose Antony, who came on as a second-half substitute, to injury.

“We’ve shown we are a team which is hard to beat,” said Ten Hag. “We can take confidence and take it into the game against West Ham.

“We have to win, and we came in the position to win. We created the chances, but we have to be killing more. We let the opponent get away with a point.

“[Antony’s] training performances are that good that he deserved to come on. When you have to come off so quickly, that is really sad to see. Hopefully, it’s not too bad, we have to wait 24 hours for what the assessment is.”