David De Gea: 5 worst mistakes made by Manchester United goalkeeper

David De Gea

David De Gea: 5 worst mistakes made by Manchester United goalkeeper

Asukwo Oduo 14:02 - 08.05.2023

In his Premier League career so far, David De Gea has made 17 errors leading to goals, the most by any Spanish goalkeeper in the competition’s history.

Spanish shot-stopper and Manchester United number one, David De Gea’s howler against West Ham might prove costly in the race for Champions league football next season, with Liverpool hot on the heels of their arch-rivals.

West Ham’s Algerian forward Said Benrahma took full advantage when he spotted that De Gea was off his line, and fired in a shot, which the backtracking Spaniard could only get fingertips to. 

However, it was not enough to keep out the strike from finding the back of the net.

The Hammers would be delighted with the three points as they continue to battle for survival in the race to avoid the drop. 

Meanwhile, the Old Trafford side would be ruing missed chances and also laying blames at the feet of their goalkeeper for yet another blunder, which might come back to haunt them as the season nears a conclusion.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Interestingly, coach Eric ten Haag was swift to defend his goalkeeper, insisting that mistakes are part of the game. The former Ajax boss said,

"Mistakes are part of football and in this team you have to deal with it and bounce back because it is a team sport."

"Over the season he is the one with the most clean sheets and also we did it as a team. It can happen, it's football but everybody has to take responsibility."

Pulse Sports highlights five times that David De Gea’s errors have proved costly for Manchester United in the past.

David De Gea in action |Pulsesports.ng
David De Gea in action Credit: d_degeaofficial on Instagram

1. Manchester United vs Fulham

Robin Van Persie, Kagawa, and Rafael had put United in firm control of the game after Duff had put the visitors in front early on. 

However, Manchester United endured a nervy finish to the game after De Gea’s clanger gave the London side a way back into the game.

He tried punching a ball that was crossed into the six-yard box but poor timing and a mix-up with defender Vidic in the air.

De Gea and Diogo Dalot |Pulsesports.ng
De Gea and Diogo Dalot De Gea and Diogo Dalot Credit: d_degeaofficial on Instagram

2. Tottenham vs Manchester United (2019/20 season)

Jose Mourinho was left disappointed after David De Gea’s after a loose header from Luke Shaw found its way to Steven Bergwijn, the Dutchman wriggled his way through United’s defence before tucking home.

Reacting to the goal, United’s legend, Roy Keane labelled the Spaniard “one of the most overrated goalkeepers” he’s seen in a long long time.

3. Sevilla vs Man United (Europa League, 2023)

A few months ago, Manchester United exited the Europa League at the hands of Sevilla after the Spanish side came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with United at Old Trafford.

In the second leg, United trailed by two goals, and then De Gea happened again. A long ball was hoisted up front, and all the goalkeeper had to do was control the ball before passing to a teammate, but he miscontrolled the ball, and it fell to Youssef En Nesyri, who made no mistakes and tucked into an empty net, and it was game over.

4. Watford Vs Man United

Another error by the Manchester United number one saw him set an unwanted record of 13 successive premier league matches without a clean sheet.

David De Gea roars after a match |Pulsesports.ng
David De Gea roars after a match David De Gea roars after a match Credit: d_degeaofficial on Instagram

With Watford at the bottom of the table, battling to avoid relegation, De Gea handed a much-needed win at Vicarage Road to boost their hope for survival. 

He flapped at Ismaila Sarr's shot and failed to hold the ball, allowing it to swim past him and nestle into the back of the net. A penalty converted by captain Troy Deeney sealed a comfortable 2-0 for the Hornets.

5. Man Utd vs Villarreal (Europa League Final)

United were on the verge of winning a European silverware when they met with Sevilla at the Europa league final in 2022. 

After two hours of football, both sides could not be separated and it was left for the lotteries of penalties to decide who would be crowned champions of second-tier European competition.

All ten on-field players from both teams had converted their kicks, and it was now the turn of the goalkeepers. De Gea could not keep out the effort of his Villarreal's counterpart, but he was the only one to miss in the shootout where 21 of 22 kicks were successfully converted.

Tags: