Mesut Ozil sent a message to Manchester United pair Harry Maguire and Andre Onana after they came up with heroics in the 1-0 Champions League win over Copenhagen.After consecutive 3-2 defeats to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, United picked up their first points of this season’s Champions League.Just when it looked like it was going to be a frustrating night for the Red Devils, Harry Maguire popped up with the goal that broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute.
The England defender powered home a header from Christian Eriksen’s cross and continued his redemption story following a Man of the Match display against Sheffield United on Saturday.It was clear to see how much it meant to Maguire, who has had to deal with plenty of abuse and criticism.
But there was also an almighty contribution from Onana, another player under intense scrutiny, at the very death.
United conceded a penalty with the last kick off the game when Scott McTominay was ruled to have committed a foul, but Onana saved Jordan Larsson’s spot-kick.
Alejandro Garnacho also did his bit, having been pictured scuffing the penalty spot before Larsson stepped up.
And afterwards, former Arsenal and Real Madrid star Ozil commented on the difficulty the duo have had to face.Taking to X, he wrote: “Harry Maguire & Andre Onana deserve that – silencing their haters.”Signed from Champions League finalists Inter Milan, Onana has had a tough start to life at United and made costly errors against Bayern and Galatasaray.But he denied Copenhagen a last-gasp leveller on Tuesday night and ensured they finally got off the mark in this season’s group stage.
“I just had to do my job, you know,” he told TNT Sports afterwards.”I had to do it for us to win, to win against a very tough team, we had a great game. Great goal from the big man Harry and I’m very happy, we have to continue like that.”Of course [there’s resilience]. We are Manchester United, we’re a very big club with big players. So it’s just a matter of time, now we have to continue like this and we’ll get through this.”
United return to action on Sunday when they take on rivals Manchester City in a huge derby clash at Old Trafford.
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