Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer warned first-choice goalkeeper David de Gea that his starting berth is under pressure after Sergio Romero put in another impressive performance between the sticks against Wolves in the FA Cup third round on Saturday night. Romero kept his 10th clean sheet in 13 FA Cup appearances for United as the two Premier League sides played out a drab stalemate at Molineux.
The best chance of the game fell to Wolves wing-back Matt Doherty in the 13th minute when he was left unmarked at the backpost from a corner and volleyed towards goal, but Romero produced a fantastic right-hand save to deny him.
In a game bereft of quality that was one of the highlights, Romero was commanding throughout the rest of the tie despite an ostensible hamstring tweak to further stake his claim for a starting spot under Solskjaer.
De Gea has failed to prove he is back to his best this season and made a howler against Watford two weeks ago which shone the spotlight on his lack of improvement since signing a new £350,000-a-week contract in September.
And, after the stalemate against Wolves, Solskjaer admitted Romero is giving him a selection headache.
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Solskjaer will need his key players fit for the daunting run of fixtures but there were concerns that Harry Maguire was carrying a knock against Wolves.
The £85million centre-back moved gingerly throughout the contest but managed to see through the game and collect United’s second clean sheet in three games.
Asked whether the Englishman will be fit to face Manchester City in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday, Solskjaer replied: “I don’t know.
“We were close to taking him off at half-time, but he battled through and let’s see how he recovers. We hope so.”