David de Gea’s missed penalty consigned Manchester United to a dramatic 11-10 penalty shootout defeat against Villarreal in the Europa League final following a 1-1 draw in Gdansk, Poland.
In front of 9,500 supporters, Gerard Moreno met Daniel Parejo’s free-kick to steer home his 30th goal in all competitions to give the Spanish side a first-half lead.
United, who won the competition under Jose Mourinho in 2017, were indebted once again to the razor-sharp finishing of Edinson Cavani, who struck his 16th goal in his last 11 Europa League starts to bring his side level in the 55th minute.
It was one of just two shots on target from United as extra time failed to illuminate a poor contest, but Geronimo Rulli would prove the hero during a pulsating shootout, first converting his own penalty before keeping out De Gea’s effort as Unai Emery clinched a fourth Europa League title.
It was a disappointing contest lacking quality and producing only three shots on target across 120 minutes – but drama arrived with the spot-kicks.
All 20 outfield players converted their penalties in the longest shootout in a final of any Uefa competition, and in an increasingly tense stadium Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli blasted home his effort and then denied De Gea, who was crestfallen at the end.
It gave Villarreal a first major trophy in their history and saw former Arsenal boss Unai Emery lift the Europa League for an unprecedented fourth time.
However, on the anniversary of both Sir Matt Busby’s birth and the epic Champions League final in 1999 that earned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hero status among the Old Trafford faithful, there was to be no new 26 May landmark as United complete a fourth year without silverware.
United simply did not do enough, despite the massive gulf in transfer fees and salaries between the two clubs.
In the end, Solskjaer introduced Juan Mata and Alex Telles purely to take penalties in the shootout.
Both players scored. Although given De Gea had failed to save any of the previous 21 penalties he had faced, maybe Solskjaer should have followed the example of former United boss Louis van Gaal, who famously brought on Tim Krul purely for a shootout at the 2014 World Cup, which the Netherlands went on to win.
