Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag on Wednesday said he was responsible for his side throwing away yet another lead in the UEFA Champions League after they were pegged back to a 3-3 draw with Galatasaray SK.
The three-time European champions blew a two-goal lead twice in Istanbul, with goalkeeper Andre Onana making two costly errors, to leave their hopes of reaching the last-16 hanging by a thread.
Onana’s errors have cost United in losses against Bayern and at home to Galatasaray, and almost led to another defeat on Wednesday.
Photo: AP
For each of Hakim Ziyech’s two goals from free-kicks, Onana’s positional play or handling could be faulted.
“We win and lose together,” Ten Hag said when asked about Onana, who he also coached at Ajax. “He is OK. As I said, it is not about individuals. Of course, individual errors in football can make a difference and you take responsibility for it, but it is always about the team.”
United are bottom of Group A with four points from five matches, but still just one point adrift of Copenhagen and Galatasaray.
They must beat group winners Bayern Munich on Dec. 12 to have a chance to progress.
United let a two-goal lead slip in an earlier group game in Copenhagen before losing 4-3 and Ten Hag said their inability to see games out was down to him.
“It’s always me [who is to blame for lost leads]. I am responsible for this, but also know we are in a project,” the Dutchman told TNT Sports. “We are in the right direction, so I know where we have to go and which steps we have to take and I’m sure we will be successful in the long term.”
“If we want to stay in the Champions League, we have to win the next game,” he said.
Ten Hag was confident they would find a way to stop conceding so many goals.
United have scored the most goals in their group with 12, but are tied with Celtic for the second-worst defensive record in this year’s Champions League, with 14 scored against them.
Only Royal Antwerp in Group H have conceded more, letting through 15.
“We will fix that, but I’m very pleased, you see the style of the team,” Ten Hag said. “Proactive, dynamic, brave, so it’s what I said, I’m really pleased with the performance.”
Additional reporting by AP
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