Solskjaer shares what de Gea said about Everton’s disallowed goal

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Super Sunday on Sky Sports (broadcast on 1/3; 16:15) that David de Gea claimed that he was distracted by Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson for the Toffees’ disallowed goal during their 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

The two sides played out a draw at Goodison Park. But both teams had a fantastic chance to win the game late on, with Jordan Pickford producing an incredible save from Odion Ighalo.

And de Gea would match him to deny Sigurdsson moments later. But then there was controversy as Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s effort was deflected into the back of the net.

United immediately appealed for an offside with Sigurdsson down inside the six-yard box. It quickly became apparent that he had not touched the ball, but the VAR had decided that he had interfered in play.

The Iceland international was lying on the floor in front of de Gea.

And while Everton fans would surely argue that de Gea was not making a save regardless of Sigurdsson’s presence as he began to move in the opposite direction, Solskjaer suggested that the Spaniard was put off by the midfielder’s presence.

“Fantastic save. What a great save. He makes amends there. And then he tells us he gets distracted by the boy in front of him. I don’t know what the rules are saying,” he told Sky Sports when asked about de Gea.

“I’d have to accept it because they probably know the rules,” he added after being asked how he would react if the goal was given. “David said he was distracted so that’s probably enough, even though he might not have saved it anyway if he wasn’t there.”

TBR View – Goal rightly disallowed, but Toffees have every right to be frustrated

Even Solskjaer seems to acknowledge that de Gea would have struggled to make a save even if Sigurdsson had not been there.

It is frustrating for the Toffees. It does appear to be the right decision because Sigurdsson is, by the letter of the law, interfering in play.

But it is probably fair to say that Manchester United will have been relieved that he was there because de Gea would have needed to produce something miraculous to keep the ball out otherwise.