Dave saves.
It’s as well David De Gea is as good as they say. During this drab, whimpering display from Manchester United, the Spanish stopper was – once again – his team’s saviour.
Against the crackling atmosphere inside Sevilla’s Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, this was United’s first Champions League knockout game since the David Moyes era.
That was four years ago and, on Wednesday night, Jose Mourinho’s men looked very much like a side unfamiliar with the latter stages of the prestigious club tournament.
With Alexis Sanchez scampering around ineffectively, Romelu Lukaku failing to find his clinical edge and Paul Pogba doing little to prove his manager wrong having been initially named on the bench before replacing the injured Ander Herrera in the 16th minute, De Gea proved to be United’s hero in Seville.
As half-time loomed in the south of Spain, De Gea was called into action. A Sevilla corner found its way to Steven N’Zonzi and, flicking a header goalwards, was denied magnificently by De Gea at full-stretch, the Spaniard using every inch of his glove to tip the midfielder’s effort over the bar.
De gea could save my hairline
— Ryan McLaughlin 🇵🇸 (@RyanMcL2) February 21, 2018
Just a minute later, De Gea cleaned up after a nervy Victor Lindelof hesitated and almost allowed Luis Muriel in.
The ball came back immediately but De Gea was ready. When Jesus Navas found Muriel with a searching cross, the opener seemed inevitable. The forward, however, was thwarted by De Gea’s reflexes, the keeper pulling another save out of the top drawer to spare his defence’s blushes.
As Sevilla probed for the breakthrough, United struggled to find any cohesion or attacking impetus. Mourinho didn’t seem overly worried, mind. The Portuguese coach, or at least the silhouette of him in the dugout, wore the expression of a man who came here entirely content with the idea of a 0-0.
Whether that is acceptable or not in the great tradition of Manchester United will surely be a hot topic once again in the coming days but, had it not been for De Gea’s point-blank interventions, there certainly wouldn’t have been a 0-0 to bring back to Old Trafford in a few weeks’ time.
Champions League save % 2017/18
1. David De Gea 94.7% (saved 18 of 19 shots on target)
2. Tolga Zengin 90.9%
3. Marc-Andre ter Stegen 87.5%
4. Artyom Rebrov 81.8%
5. Hugo Lloris & Ederson 80%(Min 10 saves). #mufc
— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) February 21, 2018
