Things did not go so well for Manchester United the last time Ivan Kruzliak officiated one of their Europa League games. And two players who could be involved when he takes charge of Thursday night’s clash with Real Sociedad have particularly bad memories of the Slovakian.
Kruzliak’s only previous Red Devils assignment came when Galatasaray visited Old Trafford in October 2023. It was a good night for Rasmus Hojlund, who scored a goal in each half, but a bad night for United on the whole as they lost the group-stage match 3-2.
Neither Casemiro nor Andre Onana will look back on the fixture with any fondness. The former’s lasting memory of Kruzliak is the red card he showed him after sliding in on Dries Mertens in the 77th minute, denying the Belgian a clear scoring opportunity and giving away a penalty.
Onana was just as culpable for the dismissal, with his dreadful pass falling straight at the feet of Mertens, who was scythed down by Casemiro in a desperate attempt to atone for his team-mate’s mistake.
The Red Devils looked as though they had been let off the hook when Mauro Icardi dragged the spot-kick wide. But the Argentine made amends 10 minutes from time with a clever finish over Onana.
United can ill afford the kind of mistakes which forced Kruzliak’s hand the last time he officiated one of their matches. Casemiro is no longer a guaranteed starter but he could feature against Sociedad due to Manuel Ugarte’s injury.
Onana, meanwhile, has been unable to shake off his error-prone streak, and some fans are calling for him to be replaced. He found himself in the firing line again after last week’s narrow win over Ipswich Town, having rushed off his line and missed a pass from Patrick Dorgu, which presented an easy goal for Jaden Philogene. But manager Ruben Amorim is still behind him.
“This season he did some great saves that saved our team and then sometimes he had some problems,” said the Portuguese in a recent press conference. “But that is normal and I think if you look through our team you can find a lot of players with that issue, so I think we are not performing so well as a team and sometimes some players have problems.
“We just have to support Andre, like we support all the players, and prepare for the next game. Forget about the past and prepare for the future.”
