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Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea was the hero, making a crucial penalty save as Fiorentina overcame Puskás Akadémia 5-4 on penalties to advance to the group stage of the Europa Conference League.
The Spanish shot stopper was without a club for over a year after leaving the Red Devils in the summer of 2023 when his contract expired.
The United legend eventually joined his new club Fiorentina earlier this month after reducing his wage demands to push through a deal.
His return to football has been far from plain-sailing as he conceded three goals in his opening match for La Viola in the first leg home draw.
Things went from bad to worse as he was dropped from Fiorentina’s league match against Venezia but he regained the opportunity to impress his new club in the second leg of their European tie.
The 33 year old certainly took his chance, proving to be the hero as he pushed aside the Hungarian’s fourth penalty in the shootout with a strong right hand.
The save will be even more satisfying for the goalkeeper as despite his impressive career in England, he was often criticised for his perceived weakness at stopping penalties. This was highlighted when he conceded 11 straight penalties in United’s agonising 11-10 loss on penalties to Villarreal in the Europa League final of 2021.
In his 12 seasons for the club, he only managed to save six penalties for the club, so he will be pleased to hit the headlines in this way.
De Gea was not only the hero in the shootout this time however, he also played a very solid match for his new side in the 1-1 draw.
In the 40th minute of play, he made an smart stop from close range to keep the scores level at 0-0 heading into the half time break.
His fantastic reflexes were on show once again as he somehow reacted in time to push a header onto the crossbar from only centimetres away early on in the second half.
The Hungarians did score a last-gasp penalty to equalise on the night but De Gea had the last laugh with his shootout heroics.
Sofascore credited the former United man with a massive 9.5 rating, making eight saves during the match, six coming from inside the box.
He also made two high claims and completed 58% of his passes, attempting 27 long balls.
De Gea will hope that this can be a turning point in his young Fiorentina career and that he can consolidate himself as the Serie A side’s undisputed first choice keeper.
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