David de Gea’s stop to deny Joel Matip in the first half of Manchester United’s trip to Liverpool will certainly go down as one of the saves of the season.The Spaniard, who has established himself as one of the finest ‘keepers in the world in recent years, got down low to his left to keep Matip’s close-range effort out with his left football.It was truly something else.Indeed, the Red Devils had Man United to thank for ensuring they went into half-time on level terms.They were inferior in every department in the opening 45 minutes and simply couldn’t get the ball to Romelu Lukaku.The Belgian striker’s struggles were emphasised by a truly stunning statistic.He had to wait until the 17th minute of the match for his first touch. Talk about being non-existent.
Man United started the second half slowly
Whatever Jose Mourinho said to his players at half-time failed to make an immediate impact. Liverpool came out fast, putting their opponents under pressure.
Philippe Coutinho, as influential as ever, played Roberto Firmino through in the 53rd minute but De Gea kept his effort out.
It wouldn’t have counted anyway, with Firmino being flagged for offside.
Watch: De Gea's stop from Matip
Rio Ferdinand's tweet about De Gea
But it was still an impressive save from De Gea, and it prompted Rio Ferdinand to declare him the best goalkeeper in the world.
“@ManUtd @D_DeGea is the best GK in the world bar noneâš½ï¸,” Ferdinand wrote on Twitter.
A penny for Manuel Neuer’s thoughts.
The reaction from fans on Twitter shows plenty agree with Ferdinand.
De Gea’s save from Matip in the first half prompted applause from a Man United legend - Peter Schmeichel himself.
Per Opta, no ‘keeper has made more saves from big chances in the Premier League this season than De Gea’s five.
So while the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford have been getting all the attention, it’s worth remembering just how important De Gea has been to their early success in the 2017-18 campaign.