A former Premier League goalkeeper has explained why Andre Onana may have put vaseline on his gloves during Manchester United's draw with Liverpool on Sunday.
The clash between two of English football's biggest names ended 2-2, denting the Reds' title hopes, but many fans were left baffled when they saw Man United's Cameroonian keeper apply the substance.
While many believe that the slick properties of vaseline might be a disadvantage to shot-stoppers, one man who previously made his living between the sticks gave his thoughts behind the decision.
Mark Bosnich, who played for Man United, Aston Villa and Chelsea across two decades in the Premier League, spoke about the incident to Sky Sports News.
The Australian ex-keeper said: 'He was outstanding in the first half, Onana. He's had his ups and downs, there's no doubt about that.
'With everything that's going on on social media with the vaseline on the gloves, lucky for him, he was outstanding, because that would have been the punchline of many a joke everywhere around the world if one of the balls was slipping through.
'The only thing that I can think of is that it helps his grip. A lot of goalkeepers like to have their gloves a little bit wet sometimes, because I think the grip that's on it, the rubber, can be so stringy that it takes a bit of feeling out of the hands.
'But the best person to ask is obviously the goalkeeper. The only thing I can think of is that he feels as though it makes his grip more comfortable.'
Onana made six important saves as Manchester United drew with title-chasing Liverpool, despite being completely outplayed during a dominant first-half display from Jurgen Klopp's side.
He was also seen putting vaseline on his gloves during the game against West Ham in December - but it did not stop users on X (formerly Twitter) wondering why he was doing so during Sunday's game.
Manchester United dropped points from a winning position for a third straight game on Sunday, after being held by Brentford last weekend, and losing to Chelsea in midweek.
Next, Erik ten Hag's side travel to Bournemouth on Saturday, eight days before their FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City at Wembley.
LegendaryBroly
662
Onana has been outstanding despite our chaotic midfield and defense but he doesn’t get enough praise.It’s because of him and a few like garnacho,mainoo who give 💯 % that we are still in the 7th position.it could’ve been worst.United has a long way to go to challenge for titles we need 2 wingers,2 midfielders and 2 more defenders if we ever want to close the gap.i also believe we need to give 10 hag 1 last season to prove himself because i don’t like the names I’m hearing being linked to take the manager’s role at old trafford.ggmu
PTLEY7
517
Onana put Vaseline because he wanted to go directly to his girlfriend after the match🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
StanStanfords37
397
Actually when the gloves are sticky it makes it hard to parry the ball further out!... Andre understands that his defenders are not usually in and around the penalty area sometimes they lose their men when marking. Those that remember the FA game against Liverpool when Andre parried the ball into Mo Salah for the first goal, if you noticed in this game on the weekend everytime he parried the ball it went further out. Making his gloves slippery helped him get the distance of the ball abit further than when they are sticky
KingEric
284
Definitely a top keeper!!!