Red Devils coach stands by De Gea despite howler
Manchester United goalkeeper fluffs tame shot to hand West Ham victory
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says he has full belief in goalkeeper David de Gea despite the Spaniard’s error handing West Ham United a 1-0 victory in the Premier League on Sunday.
De Gea let a tame first-half effort from Said Benrahma slip into the net as United suffered their second straight league defeat.
They remain fourth and a point above Liverpool, who have played a game more.
Ten Hag said he hoped the 32year-old goalkeeper would extend his stay at the club.
His contract is set to expire in the summer.
“He has the most clean sheets in the league so we would not be here in this position without him,” Ten Hag said.
“He fully has my belief. No concerns with him.
“It happens but as a team, you have to deal with it, show character, be resilient and bounce back.
“We want him to stay and extend his contract.”
Asked if Liverpool’s six-match winning run had affected his side, Ten Hag said: “It’s not about Liverpool, it’s about us because if you look to the table we have everything in our hands.
“Nothing changes. We could have made it easier if we had won, but we need three wins in four games.
“Everything is in our hands. We have to believe.”
Visiting forwards Marcus
Rashford and Antony hit the post in the first half but De Gea’s error will capture the headlines as it reopened the chase for Champions League places.
Benrahma’s bouncing shot from distance looked to be no real threat but though De Gea dived and got a hand to it he failed to keep the ball out as West Ham took the lead.
“It’s part of football. You have a lot in your head but football is a game of mistakes,” Ten Hag told the BBC.
The goal knocked the wind out of United’s sails and they were lucky not to concede a penalty when Victor Lindelof moved his arm into the path of a ball from Benrahma, with VAR deciding not to recommend a spot kick as the first half came to a close.
De Gea redeemed himself somewhat early in the second half with a superb reaction save to deny Tomas Soucek but he looked shaky again as Soucek found the net with a header in the 73rd minute, only to see the effort chalked off for offside.
With United striker Wout Weghorst ineffective, Anthony Martial added a much-needed focal point for their attack when he came off the bench in the 57th minute.
Rashford forced a quick reaction stop from Lukasz Fabianski and Martial also had an effort saved as United increased the pressure, with Martial also flashing a stoppage-time header across the face of the goal.
Despite 10 minutes of stoppage time, United could not score and they slumped to a second league defeat in a row after losing at Brighton & Hove Albion by the same scoreline on Thursday.
West Ham captain Declan Rice was well aware of the significance of the result in terms of his side’s battle to stay in the Premier League.
“The points it puts us on now put a nice gap between us and the teams at the bottom.
“There are still three [games] to go but the significance of the three points is huge,” he told BT Sport.
“I think that’s our best performance at home this season. Front foot, aggressive one against one, on the ball, everything today was a really positive performance.”
Hammers boss David Moyes praised his side’s “huge character” but cautioned that they were not out of the woods just yet.
“The number isn’t confirmed that it keeps you in the Premier League, so we have to look forward to the next game and try to pick up more points,” he told BT Sport. —