David de Gea paid tribute to his defensive colleagues after securing the Premier League’s Golden Glove award for the second time in his career. The long-serving Spaniard’s personal triumph was effectively secured when Jacob Ramsey broke the deadlock in Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool on Saturday. De Gea then went on to secure his 17th shutout of the season by helping United to a valuable 1-0 win at Bournemouth which all-but sealed their place in the top four and Champions League qualification.
‘It means that myself and the team did really well, especially in the defensive side I think we been really solid the whole season,’ said De Gea. ‘I think I played really good all season keeping some good clean sheet and helping the team as much as I can you know when we keep more clean sheets we are of course more close to winning games. Today I’ve kept another one, a massive three points and we are more close to finish in the top four so that’s very good for us.’
United need just one more point to be totally assured of a return to Europe’s elite club competition but manager Erik ten Hag is refusing to take anything for granted at this stage. He said: ‘The only criticism is we didn’t kill off the game, we had to produce that second goal but that’s the way this team are. It is not easy scoring goals. We pinned them back, didn’t let them breathe in the first 25 minutes. David de Gea made some great saves. I don’t care what happens in Liverpool, it’s about us. We have to do the job.’