Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hits back at Roy Keane after outburst over David De Gea’s mistake at Tottenham

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer defended David de Gea last night after Roy Keane branded the Manchester United goalkeeper ‘overrated’ in an extraordinary outburst.

Paul Pogba came off the bench to win a late penalty converted by Bruno Fernandes as United’s exciting midfield duo combined to earn a 1-1 draw at Tottenham.

But Keane was furious over the goal Steven Berwijn scored for Spurs after breezing past Harry Maguire and firing straight at De Gea who couldn’t keep it out.

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer defender David De Gea after the Spaniard’s shocker against Tottenham

The Man United goalkeeper let Steven Bergwijn’s shot go through his body to gift Spurs a goal

‘I am sick to death of this goalkeeper,’ said Keane on Sky Sports.

‘I would be fighting him at half-time, there is no getting away from that. I would be swinging punches at that guy. This is a standard save from an established international goalkeeper. I’m flabbergasted.

‘De Gea is the most overrated goalkeeper I’ve seen in a long, long time.

‘I am staggered at Maguire. Staggered that an international player can just get done like this. 

‘Maguire and De Gea, I wouldn’t even let them on the bus after the match. Get a taxi back to Manchester.’

Former United captain Roy Keane blasted De Gea’s error at hallf-time with the score at 1-0

Solskjaer responded to Keane’s comments by claiming that the ball had changed direction before it reached De Gea, and also praised the Spaniard for keeping out Son Heung-min’s header shortly afterwards.

‘Roy was a fantastic midfielder, he’s a good friend of mine,’ said the United manager. 

‘I’m not sure he would have stopped it either, but that’s not that point.

‘David is a disappointed obviously with it but the ball was moving through the air,’ said the United boss. 

‘We reacted well and he had a good save about five minutes after. When he saved that at least we were in the game until half-time.’

Solksjaer defended De Gea after the criticism, saying the ball moved quickly through the air

Solskjaer paid tribute to Pogba after the Frenchman returned as a substitute after a six-month absence to win the penalty that enabled Fernandes to extend United’s unbeaten run to 12 matches.

‘Paul has had an injury nightmare but I’m sure everyone can see he’s got a hunger for the game,’ he added.

‘Everyone can see the quality he has. He played the pass of the day when he put Marcus (Rashford) through and the skill of the day when he won the penalty. He’s one of the best players in the world.

‘This club wants the best players in the world playing together, and Paul showed he can play with Bruno.’

Referee Jon Moss awarded United another penalty when Fernandes went down under a challenge from Eric Dier but it was overturned by VAR.

Spurs manager Jose Mourinho said his side tried to practice not conceding penalties to United

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho claimed the Portuguese star should have been booked for diving after a draw against his old club stretched Tottenham’s winless run to seven games.

‘We know Manchester United have an incredible record of penalties given this season so we knew everything in the box was very dangerous for us,’ said Mourinho.

‘The first penalty the referee made the decision which I admit is difficult for referees, but VAR is a different story. Referees can make mistakes but I don’t think that VAR should make mistakes.

‘The second penalty is incredible for me. Where I feel VAR goes for a simulation, immediately the player should be exposed and get a yellow card, but that didn’t happen. I feel really upset with these two decisions.’