Andre Onana has escaped a ban having emulated Emiliano Martinez by getting booked in a penalty shootout.
The Manchester United goalkeeper picked up a yellow card during the FA Cup semi-final clash with Coventry at Wembley – a match that they won by way of penalties.
The incident occurred in the build-up to Ben Sheaf’s penalty, with Onana walking to the edge of his penalty area and overstepping as he looked to distract the Coventry star.
The referee, Robert Jones, could be seen giving the Man United goalkeeper a warning, but when Onana continued his distraction technique, Jones showed him a yellow card.
This led to a furious reaction from the Cameroonian star, even if his strategy did pay off with Sheaf sending his penalty over the bar.
Onana’s antics were reminiscent of Aston Villa’s Martinez, who was booked for time-wasting in the first half of Villa’s Europa Conference League quarter-final win against Lille and was booked again in the shootout.
As per IFAB rules, yellow cards during normal time are not carried into penalty shootouts, meaning that Martinez avoided being sent off – even if he will miss Villa’s Europa Conference League semi-final clash.
Similarly, Onana had already been booked for time-wasting in the 85th minute of the game and avoided being sent off in the shootout.
But unlike Martinez, Onana will NOT be banned for the FA Cup final, much to the relief of Man United.
While still challenging for the top six in the Premier League, the FA Cup is a major opportunity for the Red Devils to qualify for Europe next term.
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The Red Devils will face rivals Manchester City on May 25 for the chance to end an otherwise disappointing season on a high.
