David de Gea thought Declan Rice was taking penalty before Mark Noble miss

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has explained his thoughts towards West Ham’s controversial decision to bring on Mark Noble to take a penalty in the dying seconds of the game.

Hammers boss David Moyes brought veteran midfielder Noble off the bench to take the last gasp penalty which was saved by de Gea with a strong right hand as the Red Devils won 2-1 at the London Stadium.

Lingard had scored what United believed to be the winner in the 89th minute before Luke Shaw’s handball saw the Irons awarded a spot-kick, which Declan Rice appeared ready to take.

But it was 34-year-old Noble who stepped up and was denied by the Spaniard, who was mobbed by his teammates and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer once the final whistle blew.

De Gea said: "I saw Rice with the ball, I was expecting him to take the penalty then I saw Noble with the ball. It was the last minute of the game and I made the save.

“Great goal from Jesse and a massive three points for us."

The Spaniard was then asked what was going through his head as West Ham substitute Noble stepped up to take the penalty.

He replied: "Save the ball, save the penalty and help the team to win. It’s always difficult to play here so I'm really happy."

Do you think de Gea would have saved Declan Rice's penalty? Let us know in the comments section.

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Noble had only missed four out of his previous 38 penalties for the Irons, indicating why Moyes opted for such a risky move.

England manager Gareth Southgate also learnt the error of his ways after a similar mistake in the Euro 2020 final where late substitutes Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford missed pens which saw the Three Liones crash out.

But de Gea was the hero of the day, redeeming himself for his lacklustre penalty shoot-out display in the Europa League final against Villarreal earlier in the year where he failed to save even a single attempt.

United are now tied on points with Liverpool and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table.

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