Altay Bayindir has vowed to ‘keep fighting’ after he endured a nightmare Premier League debut in Manchester United’s 4-1 defeat to Newcastle.
Ruben Amorim decided to take Andre Onana out of the firing line after the the goalkeeper made two potentially costly mistakes in United’s 2-2 draw with Lyon in the Europa League just three days earlier.
Having previously only featured in United’s cup competitions, Bayindir was given the nod from the start in place of the Cameroon international at St James’ Park.
But the Turkish shot-stopper produced a less-than-convincing display and gifted Newcastle their fourth with a woefully misplaced pass out from the back in the 77th minute, with Bruno Guimaraes capitalising on the blunder.
Alejandro Garnacho had earlier dragged United back into the contest, cancelling out Sandro Tonali’s opener towards the end of the first half, only for Newcastle to blow their visitors away after the break.
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Harvey Barnes was the pick of Newcastle’s attackers in a one-sided second half on Tyneside, twice capitalising on poor United defending before Guimaraes’ strike.
Former United captain Roy Keane singled Bayindir out for criticism in the wake of the loss, accusing the 26-year-old of lacking basic ‘common sense’.
But taking to Instagram following the setback, Bayindir said he and his United team-mates would come back ‘stronger’ for their must-win Europa League quarter-final second leg with Lyon.
‘Honoured to make my PL debut for this club,’ Bayindir told his followers.
‘Not the result we wanted, but I’ll keep pushing, keep fighting.
We’ll be back stronger – keep believing [love heart emoji].’
Facing the media after the final whistle, Amorim refused to shed any light on his thinking regarding who should start in goal for United’s second leg against Lyon.
‘You guys have to wait,’ Amorim replied when asked whether Onana or Bayindir will be given the nod at Old Trafford.
‘We are going to start the next week tomorrow and I’m going to choose the best starting XI for the next one.’
Amorim confessed that his side need to ‘improve in a lot of things’ before they can even think about closing the gap on the top teams in the Premier League.
‘We need to move forward and do things so much better in the future to not have this kind of season,’ the Portuguese added.
‘You can see some goals that they [Newcastle] were doing with high pressure and we lost the possession in some moments, in some spaces that we cannot lose possession.
‘We need to improve in a lot of things and, again, our position is the reflection of our performances this season and we have to accept that.’
Amorim singled out Harry Amass for praise after the 18-year-old left-back became the fourth youngest player to start a Premier League match for United.
‘I think he did quite well,’ the United head coach continued.
‘He caught a player that is really fast, he made his debut in maybe one of the hardest stadiums with a team that is really in a good moment.
‘I think he did really well so he needs to continue and we need to help all these young kids to perform in a higher level.’
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