De Gea: Victor has ice in his veins

Monday 24 April 2023 09:00

David De Gea, our man between the sticks, had no doubt which way the result was going when he saw Victor Lindelof stepping up to take the final penalty at Wembley.

Following Solly March’s blast over the bar for Brighton & Hove Albion’s seventh penalty, it fell to our no.2 to take the deciding spot-kick in the sudden-death shootout.

Despite the Sweden international not being a natural goalscorer, and after facing a spell away from regular first-team action this term, De Gea was still assured the Reds had it in the bag when Lindelof collected the ball.

After a goalless draw in the 120 minutes of action, it all came down to this one moment.

Dalot: We prepared for penalties

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Diogo Dalot says the Reds were ready for the dramatic shootout climax to Sunday's win over Brighton.

“To be honest, I was very convinced, as soon as they missed the penalty," De Gea told MUTV. "I saw Victor taking the ball, I said we ‘we won, we won,’ because he has ice in the veins. He’s so quality with the ball.

“He did it, he did it!”

It was the first time the player they call ‘The Iceman’ had been paired at centre-back with Luke Shaw, but there were no complaints from De Gea about the performance by the duo in helping to keep another clean sheet.

“I know them both well, so I know how good they are, they show already how good they are with the ball, without the ball, great players,” the Spaniard said.

None of this came as a shock to De Gea, however, who knows Lindelof is always primed to step up for the team when it matters.

Our no.1 added: “Victor’s not been playing so much this season and he played really well again. For me, he’s a great, great centre-back.

“He’s always there for the team.”

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