27 February 2023 , 15:49
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David de Gea received a commemorative Manchester United goalkeeper shirt from Erik ten Hag after breaking the club's clean sheet record in the Carabao Cup final.
The Spaniard, 32, registered his 181st shutout in his 523rd appearance for the Red Devils as they defeated Newcastle 2-0 to win the first silverware of the season. De Gea has been on the books at Old Trafford for a whopping 12 years - since joining from Atletico Madrid in June 2011 - and lifted the Carabao Cup for the second time on Sunday, adding to his success six years ago.
His vital clean sheet at Wembley Stadium was enough for him to move past Peter Schmeichel's tally of 180 shutouts for the club, having drawn level with the iconic Dane in the 3-0 Premier League victory over Leicester one week earlier.
De Gea's achievement was celebrated by his manager and teammates as the jubilant squad flew back to Manchester from London on Sunday night. On the plane, the Atletico academy graduate was presented with a signed shirt bearing his name and the number 181 by Ten Hag and his coaching staff.
He also posed front and centre for a picture while surrounded by his teammates, all of whom had beaming smiles while some still wore their winners' medals. Meanwhile, Schmeichel showed his class with a message to the man who broke his record, writing on Twitter : "181 clean sheets. Amazing way to celebrate it. Congratulations on this record."
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David de Gea appeared to be moved by the gift as he reflected on his achievement (manutd.com)De Gea hailed the Carabao Cup triumph as the "perfect" occasion for him to reach his personal landmark. "I'm happy," he told Sky Sports. "It was the perfect way to do it, in the final. To break the record is something amazing, so I'm really proud. So, let's keep going and try to keep more clean sheets."
Speaking on MUTV, De Gea added: "I think we showed we are a good team. We performed really well.
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The whole Manchester United squad celebrated their goalkeeper's landmark (manutd.com)"We deserve to win the cup and let's keep going. Today, we showed we can win trophies and everyone is doing really, really well with the new manager and the staff. So, we have a game on Wednesday, let's try to enjoy the moment but we go again."
De Gea was already thinking about the next assignment for the Red Devils, which is a fifth-round FA Cup tie against West Ham. The two Premier League rivals have come up against each other twice in the cup in recent seasons, with Scott McTominay scoring an extra-time winner in a fifth-round clash in February 2021, before the Irons claimed revenge in the third round the following season.