Manchester United loanee André Onana ended a chaotic debut for Trabzonspor with a hotly controversial 1–0 defeat to Fenerbahçe on Sunday despite his best efforts.
The divisive goalkeeper was widely considered to be the Player of the Match after racking up eight saves—a tally he never bettered across his two-year tenure in the Premier League. Onana only twice hit that impressive figure for United, last rebuffing as many as eight shots in February 2024.
An estimate for the number of goals an average goalkeeper would concede based on the quality and quantity of efforts fired his way is provided by an expected goals on target (xGOT) figure. Onana faced shots worth 2.8 goals, per FBref, which underscores how well he did to ship just the one. The 29-year-old’s tally of 1.8 goals prevented—the difference between the xGOT faced and the number of goals he actually conceded—was higher than any figure he posted for United.
Youssef En-Nesyri eventually found a way past Onana, but only after a sequence which saw the Cameroon international get a glove to Fred’s long-range shot and Sebastian Szymański’s effort on the rebound. The ball unkindly ricocheted to En-Nesyri who tapped in from one yard out.
On the same day United were comfortably defeated by Manchester City, Onana earned a bonus usually reserved for victories. However, so did the rest of his new teammates as Trabzonspor club president Ertuğrul Doğan took a stand against the supposed injustice faced by his side.
🟡🔵 Youssef En-Nesyri, takipçiliğini konuşturdu; dev maçta galibiyetin kilidini açtı! #FBvTS pic.twitter.com/L4T9wvP0Bx
— beIN SPORTS Türkiye (@beINSPORTS_TR) September 14, 2025
The onslaught Onana did his best to repel was largely sparked by a 20th-minute red card for his new teammate Okay Yokuşlu. Yet, the indignation from the beaten visitors stemmed from Paul Onuachu’s disallowed goal in the 11th minute, which was chalked off for a soft foul by the goalscorer in the buildup.
“It’s illogical,” president Doğan raged post-game. “It’s hard to understand how they make these decisions. At one point, we even considered pulling the team off the field. No one has the right to do this to anyone. The Trabzonspor club is not a club to be messed with.”
Trabzon mayor Ahmet Metin Genç went one step further. “The match-fixing is still going on,” he posted on X during the game: “We don’t even know how many people we’re fighting against. 20 minutes of freezing cold, a goal cancelled and a red card. Shame on you and pity on you. Always the greatest Trabzonspor.”
Fenerbahçe Board Member Hulusi Belgü responded fiercely to these accusations. “This is shameless, impudent, shameless, and spineless!” he declared.
“All of this is manipulation, solely to gain political ground and gain votes in his own city. We strongly condemn this. Our colleagues will take the necessary action. As Fenerbahçe, we will pursue this shameless man to the end. We will clearly show him what he means. This is harmful to his own party! They need to make more sensible statements, emphasising camaraderie in sports. They are harming Turkish sports with such statements.”
Onana may have escaped the drama of Manchester United, but he won’t be in for a quiet time in Turkey.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Andre Onana Matches Man Utd Record After One Game Despite Debut Defeat.
