The second leg of Manchester United’s knockout round play-off match against Barcelona ended in a 2-1 victory for the Red Devils, giving them a 4-3 aggregate victory and securing their place in the last-16 of the Europa League.
David de Gea praised Manchester United for defeating Barcelona in the Europa League despite giving up a penalty early on.
Despite a strong opening, United found themselves behind 1-0 after Bruno Fernandes gave up a penalty in the 15th minute, which Robert Lewandowski scored despite De Gea nearly stopping it.
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However, the Reds got themselves back on level terms, when Fred found the back of the net just two minutes after the break.
Fellow Brazilian player, Antony, who had earlier come off the bench, scored the winner by expertly bending in a left-footed shot in the 73rd mins.
After the game, De Gea acknowledged that he was pleased with the team’s response after giving up the opening goal, but he criticized the official for giving Barcelona a penalty for Fernandes’ early contact with Alejandro Balde.
David de Gea told MUTV: “It was a big game playing against one of the best teams in Europe.”
“Being 1-0 down, I’ve watched a replay of the penalty and it wasn’t a penalty but the reaction of the team was unbelievable.”
“The second half was almost perfect. We scored two great goals and I think it was a really good night for everyone.”
“It was really close [almost saving the penalty], he made the jump so I had to wait a lot and I was really close to making the save.”
“We made a couple of changes and everyone reached so, so good and it’s a big win for us.”
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