If the mounting injury problems and off-field issues were not enough, Manchester United could be set to face yet another headache after what transpired after their dramatic Champions League victory against Copenhagen.
Harry Maguire scored the all-important goal in the second half but it was goalkeeper Andre Onana who saved his team’s blushes by saving a last-minute penalty from Copenhagen forward Jordan Larsson.
It has been a rough start to life as United’s new No 1 for the Cameroonian with the goalie making quite a few high-profile errors since his arrival.
Garnacho’s social media post has raised a storm
The penalty save was greeted by a deafening roar from the Old Trafford faithful while his teammates went berserk and piled on the goalkeeper in celebration with everyone hoping this would be the catalyst for the shot-stopper to get his career back on track.
Quite a few current and former players went on social media after the game to congratulate Onana, one among them being Alejandro Garnacho.
However, his post could soon see the Argentine get banned while also incurring a fine due to the racist connotations his tweet contained.
🔴🇦🇷 FA have been investigating into Garnacho’s social media post in which he used gorilla emojis over a picture of Andre Onana's penalty save.
🇨🇲 Onana replies: “People can’t choose what I should be offended by. Garnacho meant power and strenght. This should go no further”. pic.twitter.com/k6kea9Iwgz
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 26, 2023
The 19-year-old’s post contained two gorilla emojis alongside a picture of Onana celebrating with his United teammates. He, however, deleted the post soon after.
“The Football Association is aware of it and could yet charge the winger with a breach of their guidelines around racially sensitive social media posts,” The Manchester Evening News reported.
Onana, however, responded on his socials by claiming that he was not offended as the post had a different meaning and urged that the matter be laid to rest here.
“People can’t choose what I should be offended by. Garnacho meant power and strength. This should go no further.”
FA investigating the matter, ban could be incoming
Former United player Edinson Cavani had been delivered a similar punishment after he wrote ‘Gracias Negrito’ to a friend who had congratulated him after Cavani scored a goal.
It was a non-issue in the Uruguayan’s culture, but as per the FA, “it was deemed that his post was insulting, abusive, improper and brought the game into disrepute and it was an “aggravated breach” because it “included reference, whether express or implied, to colour and/or race and/or ethnic origin”.”
Apart from the aforementioned actions, the FA also asked him to undergo a sensitization program to make him aware of the socially acceptable rules and Garnacho could now have to deal with similar.
Considering Antony and Marcus Rashford’s poor form, this will be yet another headache for Erik ten Hag to deal with.