DE GEA SHOWS HIS CLASS

Superb goalkeeper shuts out Sevilla as United earn draw

MANCHESTER United goalkeeper David de Gea added another heart-stopping save to his collection as his team held a highly-impressive Sevilla side to a 0-0 draw away from home in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.

The Spain international foiled Colombian striker Luis Muriel from point-blank range at the end of the first half not long after tipping over an overhead kick from Argentine defender Gabriel Mercado as the Spaniards created far more chances than Jose Mourinho’s side.

United forward Romelu Lukaku spurned a rare clear opening in the first period when he punted a pass from Alexis Sanchez well over the bar and the Belgian had a goal ruled out for handball late in the second.

Sevilla fired 25 shots at De Gea’s goal while United only had six attempts, only one of which was on target. United coach Jose Mourinho, however, said he did not feel his side had been fortunate to leave Spain with the tie still wide open.

“Even with a couple of mistakes the team defended well,” Mourinho said. “When we made the mistakes David was obviously there and that is the reason why he is what he is.

Mourinho said the scoreline “reflected what the game was“, despite the Old Trafford side managing just one shot on target all evening.

“No, I’m not relieved. I think we finished the game with more space than we had in the beginning, with more chances of scoring the goal,” said Mourinho.

“The stats are what they are. Sometimes you have 15 shots, but 13 of them were what I call statistic shots. So I really feel the result reflects what the game was like. If you ask me is it a good result, I say it is not good, it is not bad.”

The second leg will be at Old Trafford on March 13, where United will be looking to reach the last eight of the competition for the first time since 2014, with Sevilla hoping finally to get past the last-16 barrier they have failed to overcome in three previous attempts.

United’s latest high-profile signing, Alexis Sanchez, also had a night to forget in his first European game for the club since joining from Arsenal in January as he saw little of the ball and was hauled off for Marcus Rashford in the 75th minute.

Muriel paid tribute to De Gea for denying him and said he was disappointed his side did not take their chances.

“He moved his body well, I could have hit it in the corner but I went for power over placement and he’s a great goalkeeper,” Muriel said.