Erik ten Hag hailed David de Gea for his role in Manchester United’s nervy FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton.
The United goalkeeper made a superb second-half save to deny Julio Enciso and then kept out Solly March’s low strike in extra-time, as it finished goalless after 120 minutes at Wembley.
While De Gea did not save any of the seven penalties he faced in the shoout, March blazed his spot-kick over the bar and that enabled Victor Lindelof to step up and find the top corner to send United into the FA Cup final, where they will face rivals Manchester City on June 3.
It was a much-needed response from United, after their tame Europa League exit to Sevilla in which De Gea was among the players to make huge individuals errors.
He, like United as a whole, was improved at Wembley though and Ten Hag was full of praise for his goalkeeper after the match.
“I was very impressed with him,” Ten Hag told BBC One. “He made some brilliant saves.
“It hurt when he made mistakes on Thursday. Often when you make mistakes as a keeper you get punished. We let him down, we didn’t fight back for him. We bounced back today though.”
With the Carabao Cup already in the bag, United can secure a second trophy on the season when they return to Wembley in early June, and in doing so derail City’s treble bid which could well still be on track at that point.
United have made a habit of responding to setbacks this season, with their manager relieved to see them do just that against Brighton after such a poor display in Spain.
“On Thursday I saw a team I didn’t recognise but today we went back to usual,” Ten Hag said.
“I could see determination and resilience. We fought for every yard and competed in every battle. We had good chances.”
