David de Gea concedes Manchester United will struggle without Casemiro after the Brazilian midfielder was shown a straight red card against Crystal Palace.
Bruno Fernandes’ penalty and a Marcus Rashford strike put Manchester United on course for a 13th successive home win in all competitions when Crystal Palace came to town on Saturday.
But Casemiro’s sending off after a VAR review for putting his hands around Will Hughes’ throat during a clash between both sets of players sparked a frantic final 20 minutes.
Jeffrey Schlupp pulled one back but United held on for a 2-1 victory that underlined the chasm in quality and character between this group and the one that floundered last season.
“It’s a great run,” long-serving goalkeeper De Gea said. “I think we improve a lot from last season.
“Of course it means a lot because the game was under control, then in one action we lost one big player and it was tough until the end.
“They scored one goal and had a couple of good chances at the end.
“But we fight and it feels great to have won the game like we did.”
De Gea called it a “massive, massive three points” for a team that will now have to do without star midfielder Casemiro for the next three matches.
The 30-year-old’s red card led boss Erik ten Hag to bemoan the inconsistency of VAR decision-making and the goalkeeper to tweet a GIF of former United boss Mourinho saying “if I speak I am in big trouble”.
Asked about the decision to send off Casemiro shortly after that post, De Gea referred to it and said with a smile: “I am like in the tweet – I prefer not to talk because if I talk I’m in trouble. I don’t want to say anything on that.”
Casemiro will be suspended for the doubleheader against rivals Leeds and the home clash with Leicester as a result of the punishment, putting the onus on others to step up.
“It’s going to be tough for sure,” he said. “We lost already Christian (Eriksen to injury), now Case, so big players for us.
“But we have a bigger squad. Players are ready to play, everyone is really focused.
“(Marcel Sabitzer) shows already, he play 15 to 20 minutes, he did really well, made some good tackles, good with the ball, so everyone is ready to play.”
Sabitzer joined on loan from Bayern Munich just before Tuesday’s transfer deadline and could make his first start against Leeds on Wednesday given United’s midfield absentees.
“He looks like an experienced guy,” De Gea said. “He played a…
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