Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer believes the lessons learned from their defeat at Sevilla helped Manchester United overcome Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, with the former Newcastle man and Peter Schmeichel both singling out David de Gea for praise.
Following a goalless 120 minutes, in which clear-cut chances for both sides were at a premium, United prevailed on penalties, winning 7-6 from the spot. After Solly March blazed his effort over the crossbar, Victor Lindelof smashed home the winner, booking United's return trip to Wembley on June 3 to face arch-rivals Manchester City.
United were under the cosh for almost the first hour of the contest, with Brighton enjoying more of the possession and the better of the opportunities. The closest they came to scoring was when youngster Julio Enciso saw a left-footed effort expertly tipped over by De Gea 11 minutes after half-time.
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The Spaniard, unsurprisingly, arrived at Wembley under the spotlight after being guilty of committing three errors in United's 3-0 defeat to Sevilla in the Europa League on Thursday evening. Some Reds fans had hoped that manager Erik ten Hag would have dropped the shot-stopper, even though that was never likely to happen.
Nevertheless, although he didn't save a penalty in the shootout, his performance was one of great importance in the eyes of legendary United shot-stopper Schmeichel.
"I think that is a sign of a really good goalkeeper," said Schmeichel, speaking to BBC Sport. "You cannot play football for so long without making mistakes and, unfortunately for him, a few of them came in the same game, and that put the spotlight on him for this game today.
"He's come out, he's played really, really good. I think without David de Gea in goal today, I think Brighton would have won this game comfortably."
Although his contributions between the sticks were the most important element of his performance, Shearer credited the former Atletico Madrid ace for the way he tweaked his game after what happened in Seville less than 72 hours earlier.
"I think they also learned from what happened in midweek," added Shearer. "They know that Brighton would like to press and they didn't have a chance to do that because every time the goalkeeper had it, every single time, he just went long.
"No nonsense, get it up front as quick as you can, get it up front, not going to make any mistakes. And, when he was needed - which was three or four times - he pulled off some really good saves, didn't he?"
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