David de Gea completes 10 years since moving to Man United on June 29, 2011. The Spaniard joined from Atletico Madrid a decade ago and is currently the most experienced player in the squad.
In these 10 years, Dave has seen the Red Devils go through many highs and lows. From winning the Premier League, Europa League, and FA Cup to disappointing finishes to Premier League campaigns after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, he’s seen it all.
When discussing Dave’s best moments at United (there are many), a few immediately stand out. So here on his 10th anniversary of joining the club, we’ll look at the top-5 moments of De Gea’s career at Old Trafford.
5. Penalty save vs Van Persie
While his recent penalty-save record might be disappointing, it was ironically a penalty that properly kickstarted De Gea’s career at United. At the start of the 2011/12 season, the Spaniard was making unforced errors and being criticized for his sloppy goalkeeping. However, he silenced all his doubters with some brilliance in the famous 8-2 win over Arsenal.
During the first half of the tie, things were still quite equally balanced. Arsenal got a penalty – which their in-form striker Robin van Persie stepped up to take.
However, De Gea perfectly predicted his shot and made a sharp diving save to put it out. He inspired his teammates to go full throttle in the attack and secure a huge win in the end – but that penalty save did a lot of good to De Gea’s confidence levels.
4. Denying Sterling in a 1v1 situation
Dave started showing Raheem Sterling who’s boss when he was still an up-and-coming youngster at Liverpool. In the 2014/15 season, United faced Liverpool at Old Trafford in a difficult game. In the first half, a United defender botched a simple back pass to De Gea and instead gave it to Sterling.
The Liverpool man even managed to go around the United keeper – but Dave showed incredible resolve to sprint back to stop him from scoring into an open goal. That save was enough to rejuvenate his teammates and seal a 3-0 win over Liverpool. Since that incident, Sterling is yet to score a goal against United.
3. Incredible save to deny Mata’s free-kick
Now good friends at United – Juan Mata and De Gea weren’t always this friendly in the Premier League. In fact, Mata tested De Gea to the maximum in the 2012/13 season. With the game at Stamford Bridge set at 3-2 in United’s favour late into the game – Chelsea got a free kick.
Mata, being the specialist, took it and struck a perfect free-kick that seemed destined to go into the top corner. However, De Gea showed incredible reflexes to dive high to tip it over the post – leaving Mata shocked. That still goes down as one of the best saves he’s ever made and one moment nobody will ever be able to forget.
2. Record-breaking display vs Arsenal at the Emirates
In the 2017/18 season, United faced off against a very attack-minded Arsenal side and gave them all the license to attack them. So, the Gunners did just that. But De Gea had no intentions whatsoever to let them score multiple goals.
What started with a few comfortable saves in the first half soon increased to 14 saves being made by Dave before the final whistle. He set the record for the joint-most saves made by a goalkeeper in a Premier League game ever and frustrated the entire Arsenal side. While this isn’t a ‘single’ moment, De Gea superhero efforts that day can’t be excluded.
1. Denying Everton’s Bryan Oviedo with extraordinary save
In his United career, De Gea has made many, many superhuman-esque saves. But one that really stands out has to be the one he managed against Everton in 2014. In the 2014/15 season, a spirited Everton side took United to the limit at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils were winning the game 2-1 – but Everton launched some menacing attacks towards the end. In added time, it seemed like the visitors had a guaranteed equalizer as their defender Bryan Oviedo struck a pitch-perfect volley from outside the box. It looked destined to power into the goal, but De Gea showcased incredible reflexes to tip it over.
The save was so good that even Everton players congratulated for him. Making that kind of a save in such a clutch moment was not easy – which is why it might arguably be the best-ever moment in a United shirt.
