HE’S HAD ANOTHER STINKER!
De Gea gaffe puts dent in United’s top-four hopes
SUCH has been David de Gea’s dramatic loss of form at Manchester United, this wasn’t even his worst mistake of late.
It will be hard to find a more dismal effort than the one that failed to stop Lionel Messi scoring his second goal during Barcelona’s win at the Nou Camp. Arguably this one was more damaging, though.
United were already two down on aggregate to Messi and Co when De Gea dived over the top of that low, weak shot in Spain. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team were already heading out of the Champions League.
Here at Old Trafford, though, came an error that could cost United dearly.
When De Gea inexplicably failed to hold Antonio Rudiger’s 30-yard shot, pushing it into the path of Marcos Alonso just before halftime, the goalkeeper deprived his team of the lead and, by extension, a victory they desperately needed.
United were comfortably the better team at the time, and the incident changed the whole feel of the contest.
United are the kind of malfunctioning team who struggle to win a game once these days. To ask them effectively to win this one twice always felt like a big ask and ultimately it proved so.
Three points became one for United, joint-fourth in the table became sixth, and, if Champions League qualification eludes them, De Gea will know he has played an unfortunate part.
It is hard to watch the Spaniard’s current travails, largely because he has been so undeniably excellent for so long. He does not deserve to go through these horrors.
However, this was a huge, huge blunder, and, following his mistake here against Manchester City on Wednesday, another gasp-out-loud moment.
In the dugout United coach Mike Phelan clasped his hands to his head and De Gea himself just looked blank — and that is never a good sign.
It was tempting to look for excuses. Did the ball swerve late? No. Did it swerve at all? Not really.
Was there any conceivable reason why he shouldn’t have gobbled it up? Yes and the answer is to be found in his own broken confidence.
It is easy to speak with hindsight but De Gea looked like a man in need of a pillow and dark room after last week’s mistake in the derby.
Perhaps, just perhaps, Solskjaer should have prioritised common sense over loyalty and dropped his goalkeeper. Just maybe.
But he didn’t, so United were only level at half-time when they should have been ahead.
How deflating that was and if De Gea does not pay with his place in the team at Huddersfield next weekend then we will have spotted the first obvious flaw in Solskjaer’s management.
Prior to that moment, United had been quite good and Chelsea quite flat. With Tottenham and Arsenal having lost earlier in the weekend, it is stretching things to call the contest for the remaining two Champions League places a ‘battle’.
Nevertheless, United were spirited and after they scored early they looked a little more comfortable in those red shirts, for half an hour at least. It was a lovely goal, too. Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw were involved early in the move down the left and when Romelu Lukaku played Shaw to the byline with a neat chip, the left back pulled the ball back for Juan Mata to stroke it in.
Mata is too much of a decorative player to be a key part of Solskjaer’s United rebuild but he has scored some important goals during his time at the club and for a while this seemed liked being another one.
Chelsea could not get going and on occasion didn’t look as though they wanted to. Eden Hazard and the Brazilian Willian were spritely but centre forward Gonzalo Higuain was abysmal, slow and uninterested and Chelsea lacked a focus.
Had Eric Bailly — later to depart injured — directed a header from a corner a foot to the left in the 28th minute, United would have led by two and surely would have won.
But Alonso reacted well and finished neatly after De Gea’s mistake and it was an even game from then on.
Marcos Rojo should have been sent off for a horrible lunge on Willian but was still on the field to head for goal from a late corner.
Chelsea midfielder Pedro — on as a substitute — cleared the ball off the line and in the very last minute of the seven added on at the end, he played Higuain clear for a golden chance.
De Gea saved the shot this time but replays showed he had done so by actually turning his back on the ball.
It was extraordinary goalkeeping, not for the first time.