Andre Onana was almost sent off against Coventry(Picture: Getty)
Jeff Stelling believes Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana was fortunate not to get a red card before extra-time during his side’s 3-3 draw with Coventry in the FA Cup.
United surged into a three-goal lead after goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes but let the game slip as Championship Coventry mounted a superb comeback.
Ellis Simms and Callum O’Hare reduced the deficit before Haji Wright’s last-minute penalty took the semi-final to extra-time.
Coventry then saw Victor Torp’s late extra-time winner ruled out for offside by VAR before Mark Robins’ side missed two crucial penalties in the shootout to fall short of a historic cup final.
Onana proved a difference-maker with his save to deny O’Hare in the shootout, but Stelling argued that the Cameroonian was fortunate to still be on the pitch after his time-wasting antics in normal time.
‘By the way, just one thing that never gets mentioned, gets overlooked, I just want to say Andre Onana shouldn’t have been on the field for the penalty shootout,’ he said on talkSPORT.
‘He’s been given a yellow card after 85 minutes by Rob Jones. And what does he do? He goes behind his goal, picks up his water bottle, takes a drink of water.
Onana was also booked during the penalty shootout (Picture: Getty)
‘If Rob Jones had had any bottle, he’d have shown him another yellow card immediately because the goalkeeper was taking the mickey out of the referee.’
Having received a yellow card during the original 90 minutes, Onana was booked again for timewasting during the penalty shootout.
However, as yellow cards from regulation time do not carry over into the shoot-out, the 28-year-old was spared an early bath at a crucial moment.
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A similar incident played out in Aston Villa’s Europe Conference League quarter-final against Lille, where Emiliano Martinez avoided a red despite also picking up two yellow cards during the game.
However, while Onana will not be suspended for the FA Cup final next month, Martinez will not be available for Villa in their Conference League semi-final first leg against Olympiacos.
Manchester United will face Manchester City in a repeat of the 2023 FA Cup final after Pep Guardiola’s side beat Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday.
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