David de Gea has revealed his dark tactics during penalty shootout with Brighton in FA Cup semifinal while insisting Manchester United will defeat City rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
The Spaniard produced a series of mind-blowing and astonishing saves to drag the game to penalties.
The Seagulls forced Manchester United to drink from a firehose of marathon attacks and would have killed the game right from the first half if not for De Gea’s vintage saves.
However, his legendary and standout performance after regulation and extra time paled into insignificance after what appeared to be a cringe goalkeeping during the penalty shootouts.
The 32-year-old gave away some penalties during the shootouts in a rather awkward moves that stuns Man United fans.
Some Brighton penalty takers just rolled the ball with low shots into the net while David de Gea dived constantly towards the right direction and will sprawl to the ground before the spotkick is even taken.
Manchester United fans tore into De Gea’s subpar delivery during the spotkicks which followed his goalkeeping blunders in shock Europa League quarterfinal defeat against Sevilla.
Lindelof saved Manchester United’s pursuit for a double at Wembley when he scored the seventh penalty after March blew Brighton’s kick wide over the crossbar.
The Red Devils progressed to the finals where they will take on Manchester City who thrashed Sheffield United to reach the finals.
Speaking after Manchester United’s penalty win, David de Gea lauded the confidence and fighting spirit of the Seagulls throughout the game but insisted his side showed class with perfect penalties.
“It was was very tight game against a very good team,” David de Gea told the BBC.
De Gea also revealed his dark tactics during the penalty shootouts. According to him he tried to heap pressure on Brighton penalty takers to try twist the outcome.
“We have always prepared for penalties. I tried to put pressure on the takers but thank God our penalty kicks were perfect.”
He also reiterated his optimism of Manchester United’s chances against Manchester City in the finals.
According to him, the Red Devils have what it takes to tame their City rivals and clinch the trophy on June 3 at Wembley having defeated the club this season in the Premier League.
“It is going to be a big game against one of the best teams in Europe, but we have shown already that we can beat them,” he said.
David De Gea gave away all three goals at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Spain and was blamed by both pundits and fans for a dreary display against Sevilla on Thursday.
However, he seems to have come out of the criticisms stronger to keep Manchester United in the game against Brighton.
His saves against Mitoma’s and Encisco’s thunderbolt strikes were legendary. He is ahead of other goalkeepers in the Premier League this season with the most number of clean sheets (14).
However, he came under wires again during the penalty shootouts. March misfired to hand United the ticket to the final after Lindelof fired his into the net.
Manchester United are still enjoying their campaign this season under Erik Ten Hag. They won the Carabao Cup, well-placed in the top-four race, and will be eyeing a double when they tackle Manchester City in the final.
