David de Gea misses in insane penalty shootout against Villarreal

Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at 11:54 PM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 00:16

Villarreal has won the Europa League. In the final in Gdansk against Manchester United, a penalty shootout had to be used on Wednesday evening to determine a winner, after a 1-1 draw in regular time and a bloodless extra time. An insane penalty shootout followed: all 20 field players scored, after which the goalkeeper of Villarreal also hit and David de Gea missed.

Manchester United had the initiative in the opening phase, but did not have great opportunities. Scott McTominay fired wide in the seventh minute from the edge of the penalty area. It was the only serious goal attempt before Villarreal opened the score after half an hour. Dani Parejo sent a sharp, curving free kick from midfield to the penalty area. Gerard Moreno appeared behind the defense of Manchester United and found from close range the right corner: 1-0. It was his thirtieth official goal of the season for Villarreal. In the 2010/11 season, Giuseppe Rossi was the last player to score so many times for the club in a season.

In the remainder of the first half, Villarreal apparently simply held on to that lead. The number seven of last season in LaLiga played with many players behind the ball and kept the rows tightly closed. Manchester United were pushed to their limits to find an opening and that proved too difficult a task in the first half. The second half started with a serious chance for Villarreal, as Carlos Bacca just fell short to score the 2-0 from close range. On the other side, Manchester United unsuccessfully asked for a penalty kick after contact between Alfonso Pedraza and Mason Greenwood; the video arbitration, like referee Clément Turpin, found that a penalty was unnecessary.

Ten minutes after the break, Manchester United came alongside. After a deflected corner from Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford took out from outside the box, after which Villarreal did not get the ball out of the box. Via the foot of McTominay, the ball came to Edinson Cavani, who could easily finish because goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli was out of position. The goalscorer quickly removed the ball from the net, showing that Manchester United wanted to decide the game in regular time. although the Red Devils dominated the game, the number of chances was scarce. A new request for a penalty, after a handball by Pau Torres in the penalty area, after a cross from Bruno Fernandes from the right flank, also proved unsuccessful.

Time was ticking away. Unai Emery made five changes in regular time, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer kept all his trumps in the overtime. He made six changes in the extension. Donny van de Beek stayed on the couch. The same was true for reserve keeper Dean Henderson, despite the fact that David de Gea was unable to stop the previous 25 penalties he faced. In the penalty shootout, Gerard Moreno, Juan Mata, Dani Raba, Alex Telles, Paco Alcácer, Bruno Fernandes, Alberto Moreno, Rashford, Dani Parejo, Cavani, Moi Gómez, Fred, Raúl Albiol, Daniel James, Francis Coquelin, Luke Shaw, Mario Gaspar, Axel Tuanzebe, Pau Torres and Victor Lindelöf are all no foul. That is why the keepers had to be involved. Rulli scored and De Gea missed, giving Villarreal the longest straw. Emery has therefore won the Europa League for the fourth time in his coaching career.