‘The best goalkeeper in the world’

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed David de Gea as “the best goalkeeper in the world” after the Spanish shot-stopper put in a star performance to assist Manchester United to victory against Villarreal on Wednesday.

De Gea made six saves on Wednesday as he helped guide Manchester United to a 2-1 win, with several coming in a crucial first-half period when the Red Devils were being overrun.

After the match, Solskjaer singled out De Gea as his Man of the Match, even with Cristiano Ronaldo’s late heroics proving the goal-scoring catalyst behind the win.

What did Solskjaer say?

“Thankfully we had the best goalkeeper in the world tonight,” Solskjaer said in his press conference. “David was fantastic. Second-half, they had more of the ball, it was open and they deserved to lead.

“Old Trafford is magic. Champions League at Old Trafford… sometimes that history can help us and tonight Cristiano came up with a good goal and Alex came up with a fantastic goal.

“[De Gea] had a difficult summer. He went to the Euros and didn’t play there, but he’s really come back with a determination, a work rate, that I enjoy. Again, he got a deserved outcome.

“He saved us tonight. We have to be realistic and say that we’ve got two good keepers in Tom [Heaton] and Dean [Henderson], but today David deserves Man of the Match.”

De Gea’s season so far

De Gea has featured six times in the Premier League this season, helping Man Utd into the top four through the first few weeks of the season.

They currently trail league-leaders Manchester City by one point, with Man Utd on 13 points through six games.

De Gea has also started Man Utd’s two Champions League matches, starting with a loss to Young Boys in their opener.

‘I had that feeling’

De Gea also earned plaudits from team-mate Bruno Fernandes, who said that Manchester United never lacked the belief that they would win.

Even when down a goal before Telles’ equaliser and even before Ronaldo’s late winner, Fernandes said he always believed his side was in it, especially with De Gea’s heroics.

“I always had the feeling we could win the game,” Feranndes told BT Sport. “And when they scored I felt we could come again and turn it around. After the goal of Alex, the push from the fans was unbelievable. Some amazing saves from David to keep the score at 1-1. Then at the end… strikers have that feeling to score and Cristiano helped us again.

“We finished with two strikers and we know any ball in the box they will be alive to it. We know they can score at any moment and that is why we continued with crosses. We are happy with three points.”

Further reading

• Ronaldo breaks Champions League appearance record
• Ronaldo equals record for 90th-minute Champions League winners
• De Jong insists Barcelona should not sack Koeman despite abysmal form