MANCHESTER UNITED are once again indebted to David de Gea after a superb double save against Real Sociedad.
With United leading thanks to Alejandro Garnacho’s opener, Real were pushing for an equaliser.
And they almost found it when a dipping volley was fired towards the bottom far corner, with De Gea just about able to get a hand on it and push the ball away.
However, his work was not done as he reacted to try and smother a follow up shot.
Miraculously he managed to prevent an equaliser as the ball cannoned off of his face and over the bar.
While United have looked more defensively solid this season. the loss of Raphael Varane has seen United’s foundations wobble in recent weeks.
This has led to De Gea needing to put in a string of top class performances in order to win games.
The game against West Ham is one such example.
A fine pair of saves against West Ham ensured United secured three points against the Hammers.
The first saw De Gea deny Kurt Zouma from close range with a superb diving save.
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This was then followed up by a last minute pile driver from Declan Rice which was destined for the top corner were it not for De Gea’s reaching hand.
In addition, De Gea appears to have improved his distribution since Erik ten Hag’s arrival, which has been a common criticism of his time at United.
United needed to win by two clear goals in order to avoid a potential horror draw in the round of 32.
And while De Gea’s heroics helped them to keep a clean sheet, The Red Devils were unable to find a second and consequently came second in their group.
