United finished in the top four of the Premier League for the first time since October last year after a 1-0 win over West Ham on Saturday, while goalkeeper De Gea conceded the 162nd time of his club's career without conceding a goal, surpassing legendary goalkeeper Gary Bailey in the team's history with a clean sheet.
Bailly has been following De Gea's performance in recent weeks and expecting him to surpass himself, after the last-minute goal conceded by Manchester United against Brentford, which made De Gea unable to break the record, but in the match against West Ham, De Gea finally ushered in a milestone moment.
It was his fifth clean sheet in the Premier League this season and his seventh in all competitions. These include Wolves (1-0), Tottenham Hotspur (3-0), Villarreal (2-0) and Norwich (1-0) and at home against Crystal Palace (1-0), Aston Villa (FA Cup 1-0) and West Ham (1-0).
Now, de Gea is only 18 games away from conceding a goal to tie the club-history record of 180 games held by Peter Schmeichel, but he still has to first surpass another famous Manchester United goalkeeper, Alex Stepney, who is second with 175 clean sheets, 13 ahead of De Gea.
De Gea is only 31 years old, though, so if United can improve their defence, he is likely to eventually overtake Schmeichel and top the table.
Against West Ham, De Gea made three saves, relatively idle, fans joked that his most athletic moment was the celebration after the Manchester United kill. But the Spanish Duck still extended its lead in the Premier League save list. United goalkeepers made 84 saves in 22 rounds (averaging 3.8 per game), 13 more than Leeds United goalkeeper Messlier (71).
For comparison, Liverpool's Alisson Baker (41) and Manchester City's Edelsen (37) two Brazilian internationals have made five fewer saves in the Premier League this season combined!
After the match, De Gea thanked the Manchester United fans for their support. "The fans keep motivating the team, they keep shouting, which gives us more energy towards the end of the game." De Gea said, "They were amazing all game and deserved to enjoy the victory."
De Gea also boasted that the strike could activate United's sprint for the second half of the season: "We have an important goal, it is a huge victory. We believed in ourselves, fought to the end, scored a beautiful goal."
The Manchester United goalkeeper also inspired his teammates to continue to maintain defensive stability: "Clean sheets mean a lot to the team, we didn't give our opponents too many opportunities today and controlled the game very well. Manchester United have mastered the rhythm of the game from the beginning and I feel like the scene is always in our hands. Hopefully, this victory will make us more confident and firmer in ourselves. Starting today, hopefully the team can win consecutively, better control the game and keep the ball from conceding."
Manchester United all-time goalkeeper clean sheet:
1. Schmeichel: 398 appearances, 180 games without conceding a goal, a clean sheet rate of 45%;
2. Stepney: 539 appearances, 175 games without conceding a goal, a clean sheet rate of 32%;
3. De Gea: 469 appearances, 162 games without conceding a goal, zero-sheet rate of 34.5%;
4. Bailey: 375 appearances, 161 games without conceding goals, 43% clean sheet rate;
5. Van der Sar: 266 appearances, 135 games without conceding a goal, 51% clean sheet rate.