25 October 2023 , 00:00
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A clip of Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel enthusiastically celebrating Andre Onana 's dramatic late penalty save in the win over FC Copenhagen has gone viral.
The Red Devils finally got their Champions League campaign up and running at the third attempt with a 1-0 win over the Danish outfit, who left Old Trafford empty handed courtesy of a powerful second-half header from Harry Maguire.
Copenhagen were presented with an opportunity to pinch a point right at the death when Scott McTominay conceded a late penalty - but Onana produced a huge save to ensure United emerged victorious on a night where they paid tribute to the late, great Sir Bobby Charlton.
While Old Trafford waited with bated breath in the build-up to the penalty, Schmeichel was captured watching on in the crowd. And his jubilant celebrations after Onana's superb stop were a big hit on social media with United fans.
Schmeichel's reaction come just weeks after he delivered a scathing assessment of Onana, who has made a string of errors since his £47.3million summer transfer from Italian giants Inter Milan.
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After admitting Onana had hardly "covered himself in glory" in the match against Brentford prior to the international break, Schmeichel told Premier League Productions: “I think a lot of that [Onana's mistakes] is pressure. I spoke to him after Bayern. I spoke to him after Galatasaray as well and he was very down on the mistakes he made.
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“I’m trying to speak to him about what it’s like being at Manchester United and why whatever [mistakes] you’ve made, you have to put it in a box and put it to the side. If you make a mistake in the game, it might be a mistake we can see, it might be a mistake that we don’t see.
“But you wait to think about it and analyse it after the game or at night or whatever. You have to be there for the next moment. If you’re not, you’ll make the next mistake. And now he’s upset the whole team. They will now not trust him even more, and my god, it’s not good.”
After weeks of being scrutinised by fans and pundits alike, Onana will be hoping his heroics against Copenhagen can be a turning point in his United career. The Cameroon international was quick to downplay his contribution after the match, though, insisting he had simply "done his job".
He told TNT Sports: “I just had to do my job, you know. I had to do it for us to win, to win against a very tough opponent, we had a great game. Great goal from the big man Harry and I’m very happy, we have to continue like that. ”