• Manchester United keeper’s error led to Sunderland equaliser
• ‘David has been fantastic for us,’ says Scotland midfielder

Darren Fletcher insists David de Gea has nothing to reproach himself for, despite making the mistake that cost Manchester United a place in the Capital One Cup final. United were less than two minutes away from securing a Wembley date with Manchester City when De Gea allowed a weak Phil Bardsley shot to slip through his fingers.

Though the hosts responded immediately through Javier Hernández, it was only enough to send the tie into a penalty shootout, which ended in farce as only Fletcher was successful from United’s five kicks, allowing Sunderland to scrape through. It was yet another dismal night for manager David Moyes. However, Fletcher does not believe there should be any blame attached to De Gea.

“David will be fine,” the Scotland midfielder told MUTV. “He has been fantastic for us. There has not been a better goalkeeper around for the last 18 months. He has been one of the most positive things about this season. He is disappointed, but all goalkeepers make mistakes and he will show what a top goalkeeper he is.”

Fletcher believes De Gea atoned for his error by making a key shootout contribution, in particular denying Adam Johnson with the kick that would have won the game for Sunderland. Unfortunately for the hosts, it just proved to be the prelude for more misery as Rafael failed from the spot, just as Danny Welbeck, Adnan Januzaj and Phil Jones had done beforehand. “Penalties are a lottery, but we should still be disappointed with our execution of them,” said Fletcher.

“We had the momentum going into the penalties but it didn’t pan out the way I thought. At Old Trafford, to only score one is disappointing, there is no denying that.”

• Manchester United
• Sunderland
• Capital One Cup

theguardian.com