Home Football MAN UNITED CONFIDENTIAL: Justin Bieber is among the famous faces at the SoFi Stadium, Omar Berrada makes an appearance at a fan event – and Casemiro leads the way as stars make lovely gesture to a fan in training

MAN UNITED CONFIDENTIAL: Justin Bieber is among the famous faces at the SoFi Stadium, Omar Berrada makes an appearance at a fan event – and Casemiro leads the way as stars make lovely gesture to a fan in training

Football — 07/28/2024

Manchester United’s game against Arsenal in Los Angeles drew some big names to the SoFi Stadium.

Justin Bieber was in the stands for Manchester United's clash with Arsenal at the SoFi stadiumJustin Bieber was in the crowd along with former One Direction star Niall Horan, boxer Chris Eubank Jnr and Cruz Beckham. Rumours that Natalie Portman was in attendance proved to be wide of the mark.

Bieber poses for a picture with Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard after the Gunners' winThe fabulous 70,000-seater stadium, which opened in September 2020, has been built by Arsenal and LA Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

United players brought disabled supporter Alex Nield onto the pitch for photos after Casemiro spotted him in the stands at an open training session on FridayConfidential reported earlier his week that Hollywood star Gary Oldman is expected to visit United’s training camp at UCLA during their stay here. 

Bieber was one of a number of stars that were in the stands for the match, and was seen taking photos with (L-R) Ben White, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard and OdegaardOn United’s previous tours in California, Julia Roberts has also been known to drop in to say hello.

Onana’s mind games

Andre Onana was happy to indulge in some mind games with the Arsenal players during a pre-arranged penalty shoot-out after Saturday’s game in Los Angeles.

Andre Onana was happy to indulge in some shoot-out mind gamesRegardless of the result, both clubs decided to have a shootout, so they lined up after Arsenal emerged 2-1 victors in California.

United keeper Onana decided to point to the exact area in the goal where he thought Arsenal’s players were going to aim, and it appeared to work as he made a great save from Kai Havertz before Jakub Kiwior missed.

Defender Gabriel took exception to Onana’s antics as he loitered after converting his penalty to confront the United keeper. Jadon Sancho scored the decisive penalty to give United some consolation.

Onana decided to point at the parts of the goal he thought Arsenal players would aim atExplaining the reason for the shootout, United boss Erik ten Hag said: ‘It’s important. As we know with all the cup competitions we are in, penalties can be important. I think Andre made two good saves, so it is therefore important to always have a goalkeeper who is good in penalty shootouts. He proved it once again and I think the penalties, except one, they were all good.’