- Andre Onana arrived at St James' Park under pressure after struggling in midweek
- But the Manchester United goalkeeper was one of his team's best players
- Raphael Varane row undermines United boss Erik ten Hag – It all starts
The Newcastle fans ooh-ed and aah-ed every time he touched the ball, as if Andre Onana were some kind of pantomime villain. They whistled mockingly as he fulfilled the role of taking the time to restart the game. They cried when he fell taking a goal kick.
In that sense, this was more of a test for the under-fire Manchester United goalkeeper on a freezing night on Tyneside than anything he faced in Galatasaray's oven in midweek.
Onana's last shaky performance in Istanbul had him hooked again, and Newcastle supporters were not about to let him get away from it.
Erik ten Hag's refusal to drop him and insistence that he is statistically the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League had also created their own kind of pressure.
Ten Hag pointed to the fact that Onana had been excellent at Burnley in September after being at fault for another Champions League goal against Bayern Munich and, to be fair to the Cameroonian, here too he responded very well under the circumstances.
Newcastle fans ooh-ed and aah-ed every time Andre Onana touched the ball at St James' Park
The Man United goalkeeper arrived in Newcastle under immense pressure after recent problems
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In a team full of chronically underperforming United players, he was one of the better ones.
Especially when you consider that he was the target of the Newcastle fans from start to finish and could barely hide from the abuse, dressed entirely in lime green – including leggings to combat the cold.
Newcastle's failure to score in the first half was more due to their own shortcomings in front of goal from fourteen attempts, but there was one excellent save from Onana as he cut down the right to deny Miguel Almiron's effort .
There were some shaky moments too, as he aimed a weak punch at Kieran Trippier's corner and then gratefully grabbed the ball after the Newcastle defender's free-kick rattled off his crossbar shortly afterwards.
Or the confusion with Diogo Dalot when Onana came off his line and Dalot almost pushed the ball past him with a fluffy ball.
It was Dalot's back pass less than 90 seconds into this match that had caused the first round of unrest in Onana's direction, paving the way for the remainder of this rather one-sided match.
Onana was only defeated when Anthony Gordon fired Newcastle ahead in the second half
Onana made several impressive interventions to help United out of difficult situations
Onana was supported by Man United manager Erik ten Hag in the run-up to Saturday's match
He had a lot more to worry about as Newcastle swarmed all over United, got behind them and stormed into his goal. Alexander Isak was particularly wasteful.
You thought United had to improve after half-time, but they really didn't. When Newcastle's long-awaited first goal finally came in the second half, there was little Onana could do about it.
United's desperate rearguard action could hold no longer and Antony Gordon found himself unmarked in front of goal to convert Trippier's cross.
But at the end of another difficult evening for his team, Onana will be relieved to have emerged from a tough test of character without any further drama.