De Gea Taken Aback By Old Trafford Crowd Reaction

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has described as “unbelievable” the reception at Old Trafford after his heroic feat against Everton on Sunday.

The Spaniard’s name was chanted by much of over 75,000 enthralled crowd at the stadium as he made two terrific saves in injury time during the ‘Red Devils’ 2-1 win over Everton, denying Leon Osman and Bryan Oviedo’s goal-bound efforts.

De Gea also became the first goalkeeper in Premier League history to stop Leighton Baines’ spot kick, with the ‘Toffees’ defender boasting a record of 14 goals from 14 attempts prior to kickoff.

“It was one of the best games of my career for Manchester United and I’m really happy with the saves, the win and for the team as well,” the 23-year-old told MUTV. “It’s difficult to say something about the crowd. When they sing your name like this, it is unbelievable.

David de Gea Saves Leighton Baines' Penalty in First-Half Injury -Time Against Everton on Sunday. Image: Getty.
David de Gea Saves Leighton Baines’ Penalty in First-Half Injury -Time Against Everton on Sunday. Image: Getty.

“I watched his [Baines] penalties before the game but you have to be lucky sometimes. I decided to go to my right and saved the penalty. I think all the saves are important for the goalkeepers to win the games but I think the back four played really, really well. Paddy [McNair] is very young but he’s really calm, good with the ball and strong. I think, with Marcos [Rojo], they are really good defenders.”

The win helped United move fourth on 11 points. Angel Di Maria’s 3rd goal and Radamel Falcao’s first strike since the duo’s arrival last summer sandwiched Steven Naismith’s equaliser for their third win in seven matches.

And while De Gea and a host of his team-mates are headed for international duties, the 2-time ‘La Roja’ shot-stopper expects an improvement in confidence ahead of some nail-biting line-up of matches post-internationals.

“I think it’s a vital three points, really important points for the team to get into the top four. We need to go with the national teams but we’ll come back and look forward,” explained De Gea.

“When we sign a player like Di Maria, the team feels better with him in front of you. It’s different. He’s a top player and will score many goals. I hope it’s one of many goals for Falcao. He has goals in his veins and a killer instinct. Hopefully, he’ll score a lot more.”

More work required on training ground

Louis van Gaal is yet unsatisfied with the discrepancy in Man United’s first and second-half performances so far in the new campaign.

The Dutch boss in his post-game spin rued his side’s inability to sustain possession after going 1-up and how all three of his substitutions failed to impact on his team’s “organisation”.

“I have told the players, we are not playing well but we are fourth in the table. What is coming when we play well?” the 63-year-old asked.

“It was a very good first half, like against West Ham. We created a lot of chances but in the first half we only scored one goal from all those chances. Then we got a penalty given against us. Everton hadn’t created any chances until the last minute of the half, but fortunately De Gea stops the penalty.

“Then the second half was easier to play against Everton because they wanted to equalise, so we had to keep the ball. But we couldn’t do that. I made substitutions to help our organisation but despite my changes it was not better because in the last 15 minutes they created three big chances.

Van Gaal lauded De Gea’s heroic, adding: “David De Gea was fantastic today. When there are a lot of players in front of you your view is not so good as a goalkeeper. When the shot comes in from outside the box it is always at the last moment that you see the ball, but his reflexes are very good.”