Manchester United manager José Mourinho has proclaimed that David De Gea is the "best goalkeeper in the world", as the Spaniard put in a man-of-the-match display during the 3-1 win over Arsenal.

What I saw today was the world's best

De Gea has really evolved into one of the world beaters since moving from Atlético Madrid back in 2011, which has seen him named in the PFA Team of the Year in four of the last five seasons.

The Spaniard's excellence has continued into the new season conceding eight goals going into this clash, and considering the closeness between these two sides De Gea was needed more than ever at the Emirates Stadium.

Mourinho couldn't have asked for a better start with early goals from Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard with Lingard rounding it up in the second period following Alexandre Lacazette bringing one back for the home side, but it is fair to say that it was De Gea who shone brightest.

Arsène Wenger's peppered the United goal numerous times throughout the 90 minutes but De Gea stood firm producing 14 saves the joint-most by a goalkeeper in a single Premier League game alongside Tim Krul and Vito Mannone, and Mourinho had nothing but praise for the 27-year-old post-match.

“I told him after the match," Mourinho stated on De Gea's performance. "That what I saw today was the best goalkeeper in the world."

"Big matches need goalkeepers to be there for you," he stated. "Then the team needs them."

"But I think [from] all of our players," Mourinho added. "The effort was magnificent.”

The players grew up

A lot of been made of Mourinho's record against the supposed big sides going into this clash, and many will have expected United to sit back and park the bus throughout which again wasn't the case.

However their backs were put against the wall towards the end of the clash with the sending off of Paul Pogba, but they stood firm despite the man disadvantage and Mourinho proclaimed his players "grew up" on the pitch.

"The players grew up," he said. "They understood the game better and the players understood that with one game less."

"It’s not about focus on pressing the man," the coach proclaimed. "It’s more about the zone and to create a compact block and then, yes, press the ball in these areas."

"So I think the team felt very comfortable," Mourinho concluded. "And we still managed to have a situation that, maybe you can speak better than me, the situation with Lukaku with Koscielny.”

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Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.