David de Gea, the former Manchester United goalkeeper, has been making waves in Serie A with his new club Fiorentina. On Sunday, he pulled off an incredible feat by saving two penalties in the same game against AC Milan.
In the first half stoppage time, De Gea guessed correctly to deny Theo Hernandez‘s left-footed strike from 12 yards. He repeated this heroics in the second half, diving to the opposite side to deny former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham with a strong one-handed save.
This performance is a significant turnaround for De Gea, who once went seven years without saving a penalty in the Premier League during his time at Manchester United. His recent form has been impressive, including a key stop in the qualifying shoot-out triumph against Puskas Akademia that sent Fiorentina to the Conference League.
De Gea’s saves were crucial as Fiorentina secured a 2-1 victory over AC Milan. Former Milan star Yacine Adli put Fiorentina 1-0 up, Christian Pulisic equalised on the hour mark, and Albert Gudmundsson bagged Fiorentina’s second goal to make it 2-1 at Stadio Artemio Franchi.
De Gea’s performance was not the only notable penalty-saving display on Sunday. Paulo Gazzaniga, the Girona goalkeeper, made a hat-trick of penalty saves in a game against Athletic Bilbao, helping Girona win 2-1 in the 99th minute courtesy of a penalty converted by Cristhian Stuani.
