The 29-year-old has actually made mistakes this season and, his position being the most exposed on the field, the criticism has actually been strong. Remember when he permitted a shot from Tottenhams Steven Bergwijn to go through his hands in Uniteds first video game back after the reboot? Roy Keane, the previous club captain, said that he would have punched him.
Of all the selection choices that Ole Gunnar Solskjær made for this FA Cup semi-final, the one to continue with David de Gea rather than hire Sergio Romero looked the safest; the least eyebrow-raising.
United were so careless and if Chelseas second was another individual disaster for De Gea, then Brandon Williams will not take pleasure in the inquest, either. He played a pass inside and prospered only in discovering Mount, who ran untreated towards the edge of the United area prior to shooting for objective. Each television replay looked more damning than the previous one for De Gea.
The Manchester United supervisor called Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood among his alternatives however, in objective, he opted for connection and the pledge of stability, which spelt dissatisfaction for Romero, who had played in almost all of the clubs cup ties this season. The notable exception had been both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final defeat against Manchester City.
Giroud scored when he got in front of Victor Lindelöf to touch César Azpilicuetas cross towards goal however, actually, it was mainly about what De Gea did refrain from doing. Giroud now has his sights on a 5th FA Cup winners medal at the cost of Arsenal, his former club.
However De Gea was the villain-in-chief from a United point of view, the player who did the most to affect the result. The first concession saw him enable Olivier Girouds flick to squirm away– he got absolutely nothing behind the ball and permitted it to roll almost apologetically over the line– and the second was even more glaring. De Gea had the time to make clear to Mason Mounts low shot from outside the location however he went down gradually and merely turned the ball into the corner of his web. How were his hands so weak? It looked as though all the self-confidence had drained pipes from them.
Chelsea were assisted by De Gea but, equally, they helped themselves. Giroud and Mount were excellent but, as Frank Lampard stated, he might go through his team and find determination and decisiveness. The supervisors switch to a back 3 worked well, Chelseas pressed and hustled from the outset and, after 3 previous losses to United this season, they could at last savour a success. They will elegant their chances against Arsenal in the last.
David de Gea endured a hard day at Wembley. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/NMC Pool/the Guardian
Lampard rested the in-form Christian Pulisic but Chelseas lineup looked closer to complete strength and they were more dangerous and cohesive than their opponents. They even thrilled Lampard by devoting 21 fouls.
This was even worse, De Gea stopping working not when but two times to deal with routine shots at his objective. It left his team 2-0 down and spinning towards a first defeat in 20 matches. He was not the only player in a United t-shirt that failed to turn up. Harry Maguire, the captain, had an awful video game, which was summed up when, under pressure from Antonio Rüdiger, he diverted a Marcos Alonso cross previous De Gea for Chelseas third. Across the field, Uniteds gamers were second best. They made mistakes and lacked fundamental sharpness.
The opening goal came 11 minutes into first-half stoppage-time– the additional minutes being necessitated by a clash of heads in between Maguire and Eric Bailly, in which the latter came off even worse. Bailly had been able to regain his feet after treatment however he looked unstable and went back down.
De Gea, though, had a night that not only cost his group dearly however raised basic concerns as to whether he maintains the ability to carry out at the required level for the club.
Chelsea should have actually been in front from the 16th minute just for Alonso to blow a totally free header at the back post from Azpilicuetas cross and they may have scored more in the second-half. Mount flashed high; De Gea conserved from Giroud and Reece James, and the replacement, Callum Hudson-Odoi, was wasteful at the end. For United, Marcus Rashford went close, Maguire fluffed 2 excellent headed chances a charge from Bruno Fernandes, granted after Hudson-Odoi had actually tripped Martial, was the most hollow of consolations.
Harry Maguire, the captain, had an awful game, which was summed up when, under pressure from Antonio Rüdiger, he diverted a Marcos Alonso cross past De Gea for Chelseas third. De Gea was the villain-in-chief from a United point of view, the player who did the most to affect the result. De Gea had the time to get across to Mason Mounts low shot from outside the area however he went down gradually and merely turned the ball into the corner of his net. United were so sloppy and if Chelseas second was another individual catastrophe for De Gea, then Brandon Williams will not delight in the inquest, either. Each TV replay looked more damning than the previous one for De Gea.
Solskjær had actually begun in a 3‑4‑1‑2 system however, with little happening in a creative sense, he went back to 4‑2‑3‑1 after Bailly was required off, with Martial beginning up front. Martials very first act was almost to win a charge. He charged on to a long ball and Kurt Zouma went through his foot in the procedure of clearing. It looked like a foul, although it appeared to be marginally outside package.
