London
At least David De Gea was spared having a crowd inside Wembley to witness his latest mistakes in the Manchester United goal. Gifted goals to beat United 3-1 on Sunday, Chelsea will be returning to the national stadium on Aug. 1 to face Arsenal in an all-London FA Cup final.
De Gea’s first mistake came in the 11th minute of first-half stoppage time. Olivier Giroud’s close-range deft touch from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross was pushed into his own goal by De Gea. United, which was rocked by Eric Bailly being hospitalized with a first-half head injury, returned to the field early for the start of the second half but was just as sloppy.
Diving to his left, De Gea let Mason Mount’s long-range strike go through his gloves.
There was shared United culpability for the 46th-minute goal since Brandon Williams gave the ball away around the halfway line with a misplaced pass that Mount seized on. “David knows he should have saved the second goal but that’s done now,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær said. “It’s hard for a keeper to make amends, apart from David making two or three fantastic saves after.
“But you see Brandon … probably feels a bit responsible and the rest of the half he was absolutely outstanding.” It summed up United’s misfortune that the third goal in the 74th came from captain Harry Maguire accidentally turning the ball past De Gea at the near post when under pressure from Chelsea’s Antonio Rüdiger.
Usually Sergio Romero plays in goal for United in the FA Cup. De Gea hadn’t played in the competition since the 2018 final when Chelsea beat United. With three years remaining on De Gea’s contract, United has a quandary over the future of one of its highest-paid players who was once considered one of the world’s top goalkeepers.
United can so often rely on winning a penalty. But even earning a 19th spot kick of the season — converted by Bruno Fernandes in the 85th after Anthony Martial was fouled by Callum Hudson-Odoi — could not spark a late comeback.—Agencies
