Fosu-Mensah thanks De Gea for penalty save

Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah cut a cool and calm figure when he faced the media after his side’s 2-1 FA Cup semi-final triumph on Saturday, but he made his relief clear on Twitter.

The 18-year-old gave away a penalty with United 1-0 up in the second half of the game when he slid in on Ross Barkley as Everton piled on the pressure at Wembley, but David de Gea got down low to his right to turn away Romelu Lukaku’s spot-kick.

Everton went on to score anyway after Chris Smalling put the ball in the back of the net with 15 minutes remaining, but Fosu-Mensah was glad to have his blushes spared by the Spaniard in United’s goal.

United won the game in the injury time thanks to Anthony Martial’s clinical finish.

“Thank you David,” the Dutch defender tweeted after the game.

Thankyou david

— Timothy fosu-mensah (@timboo95) April 23, 2016

Fosu-Mensah said he was learning with every passing game at United and thanked his team-mates for supporting him.

“It’s very big for a young boy [to play for Manchester United], I just turned 18 two months ago,” he told reporters after the game.

“But I have the right players around me. Players like Daley [Blind], Wayne [Rooney], [Michael] Carrick and [Chris] Smalling. They all help me.

“The manager helps me, [assistant manager Ryan] Giggs, everyon helps, so I’m happy with the support I get and I try and learn every day because I can learn a lot still.”

Veteran midfielder Michael Carrick joined Fosu-Mensah in praising De Gea, but was mainly relieved to progress to the final.

“They scored after the penalty anyway, and when they scored, I thought we had come back into the game a bit more, but Dave has been making saves like that for so many years now,” Carrick said.

“I’d prefer if he had quieter games to be honest.”