Villarreal stunned Manchester United after a breath-taking penalty shoot-out, with goalkeeper David de Gea missing the last spot-kick, in the Europa League final to lift their first-ever major trophy on Wednesday in Gdansk.
Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli scored the decisive spot kick and saved his counterpart David de Gea’s attempt thereby defeating Manchester United 11-10 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the Europa League final.
Villarreal survived a tough second half to give coach Unai Emery a record fourth title in the competition on Wednesday, leaving United without a trophy since their Europa League triumph in 2017.
Gerard Moreno opened scoring in the 29th minute, only for United to level when Edinson Cavani poked the ball home after collecting Marcus Rashford’s deflected shot on 55 minutes.
After no goals were scored in extra time, all outfield players scored their penalties and Rulli coolly beat De Gea before saving the United keeper’s spot kick.
“It’s quiet, a disappointed dressing room,” Manchester United Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told BT Sport. “That’s football for you. Sometimes it’s decided on one kick and that’s the difference between winning and losing.
“We have to learn from that one, not savour this feeling but taste this feeling and make sure we don’t get it again.
“We didn’t turn up. We didn’t play as well as we know we can. We started alright and they got the goal, their only shot on target. We were disappointed to concede a goal on a set play.
“We pushed, we pressed, we got a goal. After we scored we didn’t control the game or dominate as we wanted.
“They made it hard for us, they closed spaces. We had the majority of possession. They defended well. We didn’t create enough big chances.
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