Man Utd's Amorim places trust in Onana against Lyon, Zirkzee out for season
Andre Onana will return in goal for Manchester United's Europa League quarter-final second leg against Olympique Lyonnais despite his errors in the first leg but striker Joshua Zirkzee is out for the season, manager Ruben Amorim said on Wednesday.
Lyon snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw in the first leg last week after Onana made errors for both goals, with Amorim leaving him out for Sunday's Premier League match at Newcastle United where Altay Bayindir played in goal in a 4-1 defeat.
Onana's errors came a day after Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic described the Cameroonian as "one of the worst goalkeepers" in the club's history but Amorim defended his player at the time and continues to trust him.
"Onana will play tomorrow... As a coach and former player, I try to do things that can help a player in this situation," Amorim told reporters ahead of Thursday's game at Old Trafford.
"Sometimes we talk about managing players physically but we also talk about managing them mentally. We had one weekend where I felt it was better for Andre Onana not to play and a good thing for Altay to play.
"I'm trying to be clear on things and try to make the evaluation really simple and not over-think it... He had one weekend to rest, now he's ready to return to the competition and I chose Andre to start this game."
Dutch striker Zirkzee pulled up at Newcastle while clutching his hamstring and Amorim said at the time that the injury did not look good.
"Joshua is out for the season, let's prepare him for the next one," Amorim said of the 23-year-old who had seven goals and three assists in all competitions this season.
"It's tough in the moment because he was improving in all aspects of the game and it is hard for any player to stop."
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