David de Gea stars again for Man Utd

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Sevilla 0-0 Manchester United:

David de Gea stars again (February 21 2018)

David De Gea's exceptional display saved Manchester United's blushes as Jose Mourinho's men somehow escaped with a goalless draw from a match dominated by Sevilla.

Wednesday's trip to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan was the Red Devils' first Champions League last-16 match since 2014, but their performance in this first leg was one to forget.

United struggled to contain Vincenzo Montella's Sevilla throughout a one-sided contest, with De Gea required to produce a string of saves - including an incredible first-half stop to deny Luis Muriel - as proceedings somehow ended 0-0.

A night that started with Paul Pogba dominating the agenda after being named on the bench - he replaced the injured Ander Herrera during the first half - ended with United's goalkeeper grabbing the headlines thanks to a man-of-the-match display in his homeland.

Disjointed United were unimpressive throughout and De Gea was forced into five saves in the first half alone, with his one-handed stop from a Muriel header leaving onlookers open-mouthed.

Sevilla continued in the ascendancy after the break and racked up 25 attempts over the course of the evening - but none found the back of the net as Mourinho's men somehow returned to Old Trafford unscathed.

The travelling support even thought they had an undeserved winner to celebrate, only for Romelu Lukaku's late effort to be ruled out.
Post-match reaction

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea admitted his stunning save from Luis Muriel's header was a key moment.

"They had the best chances of the game and played really well but the result is open and we go to play the second leg at Old Trafford," the Spanish goalkeeper told BT Sport.

"It was the last minute of the first half so my save was at an important moment of the game. I'm happy for that."

Sevilla dominated possession and had significantly more efforts on goal but Jose Mourinho felt it was a closer game than the statistics suggested.

Asked if he was relieved with the result, Mourinho replied: "No, not relieved.

"The game was even. The stats are what it is. I feel the result reflects what the game was."

Mourinho added on Herrera's early withdrawal: "I think it is a bad injury.

"He had a small injury that stopped him for the last couple of matches but the medical team said he was 100 per cent ready for the last Saturday.

"It didn't look like he was fully fit."