Manchester United goal-keeper David de Gea lined up against Tottenham last weekend behind Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United's first choice defensive duo. United faced a rampant Tottenham side who finished with a staggering 23 shots, 18 of which were on target.
The former Atletico Madrid keeper made some fantastic saves to deny the likes of Clint Dempsey, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon. And for the majority of the game, kept his side in contention for the three points.
However, following his 93rd minute disaster, Manchester United had to leave White Hart Lane with just a point. The Spaniard failed to punch an Assou-Ekotto cross effectively, and when the ball fell to Aaron Lennon, who had the simple task of squaring it to Clint Dempsey, there was an aura of distraught around the Manchester United penalty area.
Sir Alex was furios, and rightly so. Tottenham dominated the second half, and these three points would have been a typical Manchester United away performance. A point away at Spurs is by no means a negative result, but with the lead cut from 7 points to 5, there may signs of worry in the Manchester United camp.
Former Manchester star and current Sky TV pundit Gary Neville had this to say about De Gea;
?You can?t do that? .
?They are big, big moments. That punch there has cost his team.
He?s got to clear it out of his box, take everything with him. We?re talking about playing for Manchester United and trying to win a championship. You?ve got to punch that 15 or 20 yards away.
Schmeichel, Van der Sar, he?s got to get to that level. He knows [that he?s made a mistake].?
Harsh words from the former United skipper. David de Gea has come on leaps and bounds since his move from Atletico Madrid, and looks increasingly confident with every game in a Manchester United shirt. The Spaniard kept United in the game, and a lack of communication with captain Nemanja Vidic turned out to be a pretty costly error.
But what about that save in the first half against Gareth Bales effort? The winger had a shot take two deflections en route to goal, yet the Spaniard was still able to keep it from finding the back of the net.
And when Clint Demspey burst through on goal late in the second half?only to be denied by a brilliant one-on-one save by De Gea.
Hopefully this one mistake will not dampen on what was a brilliant performance for David de Gea; and reports suggesting that Sir Alex Ferguson is looking to replace de Gea will once again vanish once the youngster has yet another brilliant performance.
For all we know David de Gea may never grow accustom to dealing with crosses, but at Manchester United, you can be sure Sir Alex Ferguson and co. will get the best out of him. After all, reflex-wise the 22 year old is arguably one of, if not the best in the Premier League. We saw that against Tottenham ? something that Spanish football helped him with.
Manchester United fans will no doubt hope that the performance of David de Gea last Sunday will be a sign of things to come for the remainder of the season, as the Manchester club look to re-claim the Premier League trophy.
Just below are the two saves as mentioned above.
Source: DSG
Source: DSG