David de Gea literally handed his Fiorentina side victory over AC Milan on Sunday with two breathtaking penalty saves.
Goals from Yacine Adli and Albert Gudmundsson sealed the points for the hosts, with Milan only able to muster a single goal courtesy of Christian Pulisic.
The American midfielder equalised in the 60th minute after Adli struck just before half-time, but not before Tammy Abraham and Theo Hernández had penalties saved by the former Man United shot-stopper.
The match had actually opened with Milan keeper Mike Maignan saving a Moise Kean-struck penalty in the 22nd minute.
Adli broke the deadlock for Fiorentina with a low shot from the edge of the box that ricocheted off the far post and into the net 10 minutes before halftime.
David de Gea played a crucial role in his Serie A side Fiorentina’s 2-1 victory over AC Milan
The former Man United shot-stopper remarkably saved two penalties against AC Milan
On the hour mark, Christian Pulisic equalised with a perfect volley into the net from a precise cross before Gudmundsson’s strike in the 73rd minute put Fiorentina back in the lead.
Emotions ran high in the final moments of a pulsating match as Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino was sent off for protesting, while Milan’s Hernandez was also shown a red card in added time for arguing with the referee.
In the aftermath, Fonseca was unequivocal in his assessment of the penalties given for both sides.
‘I don’t like to talk about refereeing but this isn’t football. Football is about contact and a mere touch shouldn’t be enough to award a penalty,’ he told DAZN.
‘Just a simple touch can lead to a penalty; we saw that this weekend as well. It makes everyone nervous, and that creates problems – this is football, not a circus.’
Unbelievably, it wasn’t the only game this weekend that involved penalty-saving heroics from a former Premier League keeper.
Ex-Spurs, Southampton and Fulham goalie Paulo Gazzaniga saved an incredible three spot kicks in a LaLiga clash between Girona and Athletic Bilbao.
AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham were denied by de Gea on the night
Remarkably, another former Premier League keeper also featured in penalty heroics this weekend, with ex-Southampton No1 Paulo Gazzaniga saving an incredible THREE penalties
The Argentine keep denied three separate Athletic players in a dramatic home fixture Girona would win 2-1, with their winning goal scored deep into stoppage time – by way of a penalty.
On Wednesday, Gazzaniga saved a penalty in the Champions League in a 3-2 loss at home to Feyenoord.
