Erik ten Hag was pleased with the debut performance from goalkeeper Andre Onana after Manchester United beat Wolves 1-0 at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils opened the Premier League season with a hard-fought home win, as Raphael Varane headed home the only goal of the game. Wolves were the better side for long periods however, as the visitors carved out a number of good goalscoring opportunities.
Onana – who signed from Inter Milan in a £47.2m deal earlier this summer – was called into regular action and impressed with six saves, though the Cameroon international was fortunate to escape penalty punishment late on after colliding with two Wolves players inside the area.
Ten Hag was pleased with the goalkeeper’s performance, but admitted his side got ‘lucky’ with the late penalty call.
“He had very good saves, was very calm, very good debut,” Ten Hag told BBC Sport.
“After the opponent touched the ball he dived in so it was the judgement of the officials and lucky for us no penalty. I think you can debate it but I think no penalty.”
Match-winner Varane also praised Onana after a debut clean sheet and believes the ‘connection’ between the goalkeeper and United defence will improve with time this season.
“It’s a good start for him. We need time to build that connection on the pitch which is normal. He’s a very good player so he’ll help the team this season.” The French centre-back said.
“The team spirit is already good but we want to improve. We want to be tough and hard to beat. We have to be connected on the pitch and aggressive. We did well. We can improve with the ball, more control, more calm.”
