Daley Blind owes David De Gea a pint.
It was so nearly a mortifying moment for Blind when, on the seven-minute mark of Manchester United’s preseason friendly with Sampdoria in Dublin, he attempted to deliver a pass to his goalkeeper’s feet.
The pace and accuracy of the pass were somewhat questionable, however, and De Gea was forced to do show off some rare sprinting as he raced across his goal line and leapt to push the ball, which was about to nestle in the bottom corner, away to safety.
The Spaniard had absolutely no option but to handle the backpass and accept an indirect free kick.
My goodness, Daley Blind's pass back to De Gea nearly goes in. Indirect free kick is missed. Seconds later, Mkhitaryan scores. pic.twitter.com/iP1xABSChr
— Shawn Medow (@ShawnMedow) August 2, 2017
Sampdoria set up to have a shot at goal from six yards out but it was blocked on the line and BOOM.
United broke at breakneck speed via full back Antonio Valencia, who carried the ball deep into opposition territory and gave it to Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Mkhitaryan switched play and bolted into the box, where he met the eventual cross from Matteo Darmian.
https://twitter.com/UtdGoals/status/892822905653952513
What a difference 30 seconds can make in football.