Not only did David de Gea leave Wembley with a Carabao Cup winner's medal, he also left with a clean sheet which lead to the Spaniard gaining legendary status for Manchester United.
De Gea locked off his goal for the 181st time in the cup final tie against Newcastle. By doing so, he overtook fellow United legend, Peter Schmeichel, for the most clean sheets in the club's history. Speaking after the final, he said:
“To break a record and win the cup, I can’t say more than that. It’s the perfect day."
The 32-year-old was rewarded for his fine achievement on the flight home from London. Erik ten Hag proudly presented De Gea with a commemorative shirt with his name and "181" printed on the back.
No distractions for David de Gea
Despite entering his name in the history books, once again, De Gea's focus has remained on his football. Accompanied by the newly won Carabao Cup trophy, he said:
“We won the trophy and I’m proud of the team; I think we did a really good job today. We have to keep going. We have a game on Wednesday again. I’m so, so happy.”
He continued to say: “We need to go and try to win some more trophies.”
Winning a trophy is a nice distraction to have, but Man United still remain on the hunt for three more this season. The FA Cup, Europa League and the Premier League all remain up for grabs. De Gea must be at the top of his game to help his team win more silverware.
No hard feelings from Peter Schmeichel
Despite losing his record at the club, Schmeichel was quick to congratulate the shot stopper. He took to Twitter to show his appreciation for De Gea's achievement .
The Dane has commonly been labelled as the greatest ever goalkeeper to play for the Red Devils. Yet, de Gea continues to break the 59-year-old's hard earned footballing records.
More recently, the Spaniard passed Schmeichel's Premier League clean sheet record of 128. The current United shot stopper now sits fourth in the all time Premier League clean sheet table, behind the likes of Petr Cech and David James.
It has taken de Gea 11 years to reach this historic moment. In that time, he has made 523 appearances for the club and after Sunday's final, he has played his 748th hour of football for the Reds.
During that time, de Gea has become entwined with the spirit of the club. Speaking to his Twitter followers after Sunday's final, he said: "Moments achieved in the past, memories created right now, we battled together as a group – we suffered, we all felt pain but this victory is for us all."
He followed up with: "This is what United do. We don’t stop now"
De Gea's future in red
Another potential distraction for the Spaniard involves concerns about his future at the club. There is still a contract that remains unsigned despite ten Hag's appreciation for the goalkeeper. At the beginning of the season, the Dutchman said: "I am really happy with David, he is a great goalkeeper."
On top of de Gea's contract stalemate, he has faced a lot of criticism from social media over his goalkeeping performances. Some fans have been calling for the player to leave the club for good.
Despite this, he is keen to keep his composure for the rest of the season. He explained: "We have to be focused because we have a lot to play for."
While there is uncertainty over de Gea's future at the club, the majority of Old Trafford still support their record breaking keeper. Chants of "David De Gea" are still echoed around the stadium and he remains respected by most who watch him.
De Gea's future at the club may be unclear, but one thing is certain, he has become a United legend.
