Has David de Gea got over his penalty hoodoo? Ex-Man United star produces epic save from the spot to send nine-man Fiorentina through to the Europa Conference League main draw

David de Gea produced several clutch saves to help a nine-man Fiorentina qualify for the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening, beating Puskas Academia on penalties.

It was also a chaotic affair, with the Serie A side having three players sent off, including Lucas Martinez Quarta, who was given a straight red card in extra time, even when he wasn’t on the pitch.

With both sides settling for a 3-3 draw in Florence last week, Raffaele Palladino’s side travelled to Hungary to take on Puskas, but it was the heroics of De Gea who secured them a spot in Europe this season.

During his time at Man United, De Gea had not held the greatest record when it came to saving spot-kicks, having faced 33 penalties in the Premier League while saving four.

In fact, the Spanish goalkeeper, at one stage of his time at Old Trafford, went nine years without saving a penalty, ending his drought by blocking Mark Noble’s strike during a 2-1 victory against West Ham back in 2021. 

The goalkeeper did not have the best penalty record during his time with Manchester United 

His previous save came in a 2-1 against Everton back in 2014, where he had denied Leighton Baines.

The 33-year-old also endured a tough start to life at the Serie A side, following his free transfer to the Italian club earlier this summer.

Debuting in his new side’s first leg against Puskas, Fiorentina conceded two goals in the opening 12 minutes against the European minnows – one of which was a penalty.

The game was De Gea’s first appearance in 446 days, but it seems he is quickly finding his feet once again, producing an epic save to deny defender Roland Szolnoki in the penalty shootout after both sides could not be separated at extra time.

Fiorentina had broken the deadlock in the second half thanks to a goal from Moise Keane and it had seemed like they would go on to win the match.

De Gea had endured a tough start to life at Fiorentina after their 3-3 draw against Puskas last week

The shot-stopper had been beaten from the spot once in the match but stood up where it mattered most in the shoot-out

But they would allow Puskas back into the match, conceding a penalty in the seventh minute of injury time. 

De Gea was not able to stop Zsolt Nagy’s firey spot-kick but the goalkeeper stepped up when it mattered most – diving to get two hands to Szolnoki’s powerful penalty in the shooutout and seal victory for last season’s Conference League runners-up.