Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lauds David de Gea

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says David de Gea is making a case to be considered Manchester United’s greatest goalkeeper.

Manchester United’s David de Gea saves a shot from Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane at Wembley. Picture: AFP.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said David de Gea was making a case to be considered Manchester United’s greatest goalkeeper after the Spaniard produced a masterclass yesterday to protect his side’s 1-0 lead against Tottenham.

The match at Wembley pitted two of the bookmakers’ favourites to permanently replace Jose Mourinho against one another but it was the interim United boss who came out on top against Mauricio Pochettino.

Marcus Rashford scored the only goal in the 44th minute of a thrilling encounter and Paul Pogba impressed, but the performance of the Spanish goalkeeper will live long in the memory.

He made 11 saves — the most he has made in a top-flight league match without conceding a goal — often leaving Spurs players holding their heads in disbelief.

Solskjaer hailed De Gea as “the best goalkeeper in the world” but also praised his team’s defensive resilience and team spirit.

“We’ve had some great keepers at this club and I think he’s challenging both Edwin (van der Sar) and Peter (Schmeichel) for the number one spot historically,” he said. “The win here was massive, the team spirit was massive, the belief and the joy in the dressing room absolutely fantastic,” added the Norwegian, who has equalled Matt Busby’s record of winning his first five league games in charge of United.

United were eight points behind Arsenal when Solskjaer became its caretaker manager on December 19, but are now level on points with the fifth-placed Gunners as they hunt down a Champions League qualification spot.

But the result is a devastating blow for Tottenham, who again came up short when the pressure was on and remain nine points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool.

Pochettino praised his side despite their defeat.

“Tottenham did everything to win the game,” he said. “Maybe we dominated and we created a lot of chances. It was an amazing second half, I am so pleased.

“Sometimes you win a game and you are disappointed, like when we won 3-0 at Old Trafford. They were better than us that day.

“Today the result should be different and I am happy.”

Harry Kane took a knock in the closing seconds of the match.

AFP