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LONDON. — Manchester United cross paths with Villarreal once more tonight in desperate need of a win to avoid another European embarrassment and ease the rising pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Yellow Submarine emerged 11-10 winners from a marathon penalty shoot-out when the sides last met in the Europa League final in May to win their first ever major trophy.
Defeat extended Solskjaer’s wait for silverware as United boss since taking charge in December 2019, but goalkeeper David de Gea was the fall guy in Gdansk.
The Spanish international’s failure to stop a single Villarreal penalty was compounded when he was the only player from the 22 on both sides to fail to score from the spot. At the time it looked like De Gea’s days as United number one may be up, despite being one of the highest paid players in the English Premier League.
Solskjaer had already handed the reigns to Dean Henderson towards the of the English Premier League season and his decision not to at least bring on the England goalkeeper, who boasts a far better penalty record, became another stick with which to beat his management of the final.
But Henderson’s health suffered badly after testing positive for coronavirus during pre-season, giving De Gea the gloves for the start of the campaign.
Despite a mixed bag of results, United would be even worse off if it wasn’t for the 30-year-old’s return to form.
De Gea produced a series of miraculous saves as the Red Devils escaped with a 1-0 win at Wolves.
And he ended his hoodoo of failing to save 41 penalties on the trot for club and country when he denied Mark Noble in stoppage time of a dramatic 2-1 victory at West Ham. — AFP.
Online Reporter
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