United will not allow Cup disappointment to linger on: Solskjaer
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De Gea has made a number of errors over the last 18 months and has Dean Henderson snapping at his heels having shone on loan at Sheffield United.
Solskjaer added: “He knows he should save that one 100 times out of 100 but that’s football for you. I made the decision to play him and mentally he was ready for it.
“Obviously everyone has to perform and everyone has a chance every time we perform to stake a claim in the team.
“David knows he should have saved the second goal but that’s done now.
“It’s so much easier for outfield players. David showed (his character) in the rest of the game with a few good saves, but he knows he could have saved that one. We’ve got to move, we’ve got to look forward to Wednesday (against West Ham in the Premier League).
“It’s hard for a keeper to make amends, apart from David making two or three fantastic saves after. But you see Brandon (Williams), for example — the character he shows. He plays a square pass into Mount, he probably feels a bit responsible and the rest of the half he was absolutely outstanding.
“The kid has been out for a while, not played, out with an eye injury and his character and personality out there, he kept going, kept going.”
De Gea’s error all but settled a semi-final that they were already down in, with Solskjaer saying Eric Bailly’s first-half injury destabilised United before Giroud’s opener.
The defender was involved in a sickening clash of heads with Maguire and was taken away on a stretcher, having initially gone off looking groggy.
“Eric’s in hospital,” Solskjaer said. “They’re going through all the routine checks and the protocols. He got a cut in the back of his head as well, so I don’t really know from that (how he is). I haven’t heard, haven’t spoken to the doctor about him.
“But of course that had a big, big impact on the game.”
Boss Frank Lampard heaped praise on Chelsea’s players for setting up an all-london final with Arsenal on August 1.
“Obviously it is a great achievement for us to get there,” Chelsea boss Lampard said. “To win a semi is a great thing, to win a final is the thing.
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves but we can certainly enjoy the performance and the result today. I’m not sure where it ranks in the season. It is obviously right up there because of the size of the game and quality of the opponent. But we have had some good performances this season.”
MAN UTD: de Gea, Lindelof, Maguire, Bailly (Martial, 46 mins), Wan Bissaka (Fosu-mensah, 79 mins), Fred (Pogba, 55 mins), Matic, Williams, Bruno Fernandes, James (Greenwood, 56 mins), Rashford (Ighalo, 79 mins). Unused subs: Mata, Andreas Pereira, Romero, Mctominay.
CHELSEA: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Rudiger, James, Jorginho, Kovacic (Loftus-cheek, 86 mins), Alonso, Willian (Hudson-odoi, 80 mins), Giroud (Abraham, 80 mins), Mount (Pedro, 90 mins). Unused subs: Arrizabalaga, Christensen, Pulisic, Tomori, Emerson Palmieri.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Man of the match: Olivier Giroud
Match rating: 7/10
FRANK Lampard tactically outsmarted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when it mattered most with Chelsea reaching the FA Cup finalwithease—andatmanchester United’s expense.
At the fourth time of asking this season, the West Londoners ironed out their defensive frailties and found a winning formula against their opponents.
United arrived at Wembley with a psychological edge. Not only have they been in electric form, Solskjaer’s side already had the measure of Lampard’s men a hat-trick of times in the campaign, ousting them twice in the top flight and in the League Cup.
Chelsea had been schooled, but they translated those defeats into information and remedied their ease at crumbling in transition and gifting opportunities on the counter.
It felt reminiscent of Derby County’s battles with Leeds last season, where Marcelo Bielsa thrice taught Lampard a lesson before the young manager flipped the script at the critical point to reach the Championship play-off final.
He was wise to his mistakes then and repeated that trick against United.
Both teams opted for three at the back and, while the system worked well for Solskjaer’s men in this meeting earlier in the season, it was a straitjacket for United’s offensive might.
Chelsea were comfortable in proceedings, pressing well and getting tight on the talismanic Bruno Fernandes. They dominated every facet of play, completely stifling their opponents and they were ultimately rewarded.
David De Gea bore great responsibility for that, the goalkeeper’s recession continuing at a rate not even Roy Keane will be able to properly froth over.
Chelsea’s first was an Oliver Giroud speciality; the striker aggressively attacking the near post to flick in Cesar Azpilicueta’s
curled cross with the outside of his left boot.
Victor Lindelof was caught cold and while the ball went through De Gea, the defender felt more culpable for United conceding.
But after the interval, there was no such reprieve for the keeper. Mason Mount picked up a loose Brandon Williams pass and decided to have a swing 35 yards out. It looked a comfortable enough situation for the diving de Gea, until the ball evaded his fingers.
The world’s highest paid stopper has been in a downward spiral since the 2018 World Cup, with howlers now more a characteristic of his game than expert reactions.
United’s hugely forgettable evening was worsened when Harry Maguire (left, with Lampard) bundled a Marcos Alonso cross into his own net. De Gea didn’t offer much of a resistance again.
There was at least some glitter at the death — but a case of too little, too late — as Fernandes slotted a spot-kick after Callum Hudson-odoi fouled Anthony Martial.
For United, there are several question marks. The most concerning is against De Gea, a