‘I know the rules’ – Man Utd goalkeeper Andre Onana admits to using ‘tricks’ to win penalty shootout against Coventry

Andre Onana helped Manchester United beat Coventry City on penalties (Picture: ITV)

Goalkeeper Andre Onana admits he used ‘tricks’ and ‘provocation’ to help Manchester United win their FA Cup semi-final penalty shootout against Coventry City.

Championship side Coventry forced a penalty shootout after coming from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with the Premier League giants at Wembley.

United were cruising into a successive FA Cup final when Bruno Fernandes added a third following first-half goals from Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire.

But Ellis Simms, Callum O’Hare and Haji Wright all scored for Coventry in the final 20 minutes to stun Manchester United and take the semi-final into extra-time.

Both sides hit the woodwork in extra-time and Coventry thought they had completed an astonishing comeback when Wright scored late on, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR check.

Even in penalties Coventry had their Premier League opponents on the ropes after Casemiro missed with United’s first spot-kick, but Onana kept out O’Hare before unsettling Ben Sheaf, who blazed his effort over the bar.

Onana, already on a yellow for time-wasting in normal time, received another yellow for trying to put off Sheaf before his penalty but was allowed to continue because cards are reset ahead of shootouts.

Onana was booked during the penalty shootout (Picture: Getty)

Onana says he was aware that the rules allowed him to receive another booking and admits he used ‘provocation’ and ‘tricks’ to unsettle the Coventry penalty-takers.

‘I know the rules,’ he sad. ‘The referee told me the first yellow card was cancelled, so it was a new start.

‘I knew the rules before. I spoke to the referee just before the penalties, I knew the rules. Everyone is doing tricks to win. It went great for us today.

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‘I had to make some provocation to some players and to use my tricks to win the game, so I’m happy for that [laughs].’

Despite the victory, which sends Erik ten Hag’s side into the FA Cup final against holders Manchester City, Onana admitted he had ‘mixed emotions’.

‘It’s a mixed feeling, of course,’ he added to Manchester Evening News. ‘The most important thing is the victory, that we won.

‘It’s a difficult situation because we had the game under control and with some individual mistakes we gave the ball away. But we learn from those mistakes and we have to continue working hard.’

Ten Hag, meanwhile, admitted his side ‘got away with it’ after edging past Coventry City, who were dreaming of a second FA Cup triumph after winning the competition in 1987.

‘We can play on very high levels, but we can go to very low levels in the same game,’ Ten Hag said. ‘That’s not explainable.

‘I have to teach my players, clear. We have to do better on such occasions. On several occasions, we let each other down. Today we got away with it.’

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