“We can do something special at Old Trafford” – Fonseca, Amorim reacts as Lyon earn drawn against United

Lyon 2-2 Manchester United

The battle between Portuguese coaches ended up in a draw in the Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, as Paulo Fonseca’s Lyon salvaged a late 2-2 draw against Manchester United of Rúben Amorim to set up a tantalising second leg next week.

Both sides led on the night, with Lyon going ahead before United hit back to hold a 2-1 advantage heading into the dying moments, at which point Lyon were rewarded for being the more proactive side through Ryan Cherki’s last-gasp equaliser.

A significant part of the coverage coming into the game centred on a public spat between United goalkeeper Andre Onana and Lyon’s veteran midfielder Nemanja Mantic, who played five seasons with the Red Devils. Onana predicted a tough encounter but stated that United were “way better than Lyon” leading to a war of words between the two, with Matic describing the Cameroonian as United’s “worst goalkeeper” of recent times and Onana jabbing back by alluding to Matic’s lack of trophies with the club.

Matic’s words seemed to have the desired effect from Lyon’s point of view. The home crowd whistled Onana’s every touch and the pressure likely affected the United man, who shoddily allowed Thiago Almada’s free-kick to evade his grasp and end up in the net on 25 minutes. The goal was just reward for Lyon, who sought to dominate proceedings in a typically proactive fashion of a Fonseca side.

However, a more conservative United stunned the hosts on the brink of halt time when former Sporting midfielder Manuel Ugarte seized possession on the edge of the box and lashed the ball goal-bound, from which young defender Leny Yoro impressively glanced a header past Lucas Perri to give United parity.

The goal on the stroke of half time appeared to affect both sides, with United emerging with more confidence after the break, while Lyon struggled to impose themselves in the attacking third despite continuing to attempt to control the initiative. Fonseca’s side had good opportunities through Corentin Tolisso and substitute Alexandre Lacazette, but were unable to work Onana in the United goal.

United, who started Diogo Dalot at right wing-back and Bruno Fernandes in an advanced position which was later adjusted to a deeper role, thought they had stolen an advantage when substitute Joshua Zirkzee nodded in at the far post. The Dutchman had been called by Amorim just after the hour and was on-hand to score at the back post from a wonderful cross by Bruno Fernandes.

United’s lead was perhaps a little flattering, but it appeared secure as the match headed into the 5th and final minute of injury time. But when the dangerous Georges Mikautadze’s shot was parried by Onana, Lyon’s star man Ryan Cherki was on-hand to convert from close range and ensure the sides go into the return meeting on level terms.

Match reaction:

Paulo Fonseca (Lyon)

“It was a great football match. We played very well, with a lot of courage and quality. Offensively and defensively, I'm proud of my players—even if I'm not satisfied with the result.

The players are mentally very strong, they believe in it until the last second. We showed that we are a courageous team, with personality. It's never easy to play against a team like Manchester United, but we were able to respond.

I think we have every chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. We have the opportunity to do something special at Old Trafford.”

Rúben Amorim (Manchester United)

“Onana? It can happen. If you play football and you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes. If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them. The good thing is we have one more game to change everything. That should be our focus.

“We talk about results, but in performance we are improving. We are being consistent. But then we need to win. We had the game under control. But the good thing is the last play before their goal, we wanted to make the third goal. And sometimes you could keep the ball, but I really liked that energy from the team to score another goal. But that can happen.

“[For the second leg] I think it’s 50-50. We have to be really smart, because we are going to play at home in our stadium, with our fans and they will give us energy. But at the same time Lyon wants to push us to have possession near the box to make a lot of space to have transitions. The next game we will have to play with our heart but we need to think a lot during the game.

“So it’s a really difficult match, but we are playing with our fans and when we play at home we are playing with one more player.”

By @SeanGillen9