As Manchester United lined up the injury-time corner that ended with Pedro clearing Marcos Rojo’s header off the line, David de Gea stood helpless outside his penalty area, at the other end of the field, in front of the Stretford End.
His hands were on his hips and his head was down. He hoped to hear the noise that would signal a winner and an escape from the attention he knew his latest mistake was going to bring. Instead, there was the unmistakeable stifled cheer-turned-groan that signals a moment of hope being dashed.
At the final whistle, the United goalkeeper sought the sanctuary of the post-match melee, shaking hands with anyone close by, embracing Spain international team-mate Pedro before beginning the lonely trudge towards the tunnel, accompanied by a television cameraman which signalled that, once again, he was the story.
The 28-year-old may have preserved United’s faint hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League by blocking Gonzalo Higuain’s close-range effort but, such is the life of a goalkeeper, that moment is not destined to be replayed over and over and dissected in minute detail. Inexplicably spilling Antonio Rudiger’s speculative 35-yard shot to allow Marcos Alonso to squeeze in a Chelsea equaliser most definitely is.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said all the right things afterwards. He still “trusts” De Gea. No-one should “blame him” for dropping points.
“David has been unbelievable for this club,” said the Norwegian. “We support each other. There is no chance anyone can blame him for losing points.
“He knows he could have had that shot, but that is football. David likes to play games. I will have chats with him and he will respond in the right way.”
But the bare statistics tell a stark story.
In 123 games, De Gea, Manchester United’s player of the year in four seasons out of five, made three mistakes that led directly to goals. He has matched that number in his last four matches.
Lionel Messi benefited from the first, De Gea allowing the Argentine’s weak shot from the edge of the area to squirm under his body as Barcelona confirmed their superiority in the Nou Camp in their Champions League quarter-final second leg.
On Wednesday, De Gea’s failure to stop Leroy Sane’s shot killed off any hope of a Manchester derby comeback against City. And now Chelsea.
“You think so?” replied Solskjaer, when it was put to him after the game that “surely” it was time to remove De Gea from “the firing line”.
“He is going through a period where he feels he can do better. There is no hiding that. But no-one will point fingers because he has saved us so many times. He is not the reason we are in sixth position.
“His reaction after City was good and I was confident in him. He knows he could do better with their goal but it’s one of those things again.”
