Super Sunday: Anelka and Aguero score, but Cmovs and De Gea deserve the plaudits

The goalscorers always take it away — the praise, the headlines, the pay-raises and the plaudits. But stopping goals and goalscoring opportunities is as hard a task as scoring or creating chances — and no two players than Manchester United’s goalkeeper David de Gea and Mumbai City FC defender Pavel Cmovs deserve more praise in keeping their inconsistent teams in matches this past month — soaking up pressure from behind, at times in lost causes, at times in deflating draws and even in elating wins. We saw the two stars in action on Sunday again — and while De Gea lost out to Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero in the battle of Manchester, it was Pavel Cmovs who helped his side keep a cleansheet as Nicolas Anelka’s freekick helped Mumbai City FC beat Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League. De Gea is one of Manchester United’s best players this season: There’s no doubting this. Time and again, De Gea comes to the rescue as United’s defence creaks and leaks attacks through them — he is the last man standing, and more often than not, thwarts his net from wobbling in delight. United fans voted the Spaniard as their player of the month, and it is a fully deserved award. And as if as a thank you performance, De Gea made two worldly saves in the first half as Jesus Navas and Aguero had gaping goals to aim for. Two weeks before, he was at it against Everton — and last week, against Chelsea when Eden Hazard, Willian and Didier Drogba all found out how good he was. Every time United’s backline crumbled, De Gea has rose to the occasion — keeping hopes of a draw alive or coming under siege when teams have tried to hit United on the counter. The 24-year-old may have kept just two cleansheets all season, but out of 10 gameweeks, he has been Squawka’s keeper of the week four times. He has made 1.80 saves per game and 1.29 saves per goal. His distribution also finds it mark 70% of the time. But it’s hard to put the importance of De Gea’s performances in numbers — because statistics don’t show you the type of saves he makes. And if you’ve seen Manchester United play this season, then you’ll see that they’re simply brilliant. On current form, he’s probably right up there with the world’s top five — along with Thibaut Courtois, Morgan de Sanctis, Claudio Bravo and Manuel Neuer. [caption id=“attachment_1785021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Anelka scored a wonderful goal via a free kick. HISL[/caption] Anelka scored, but Cmovs return was worth more: Nicolas Anelka finally showed concrete evidence of his class when he whipped in a freekick against Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League — giving Mumbai City FC a much-needed win after the 5-1 bashing they received at the hands of Chennaiyin on 28 October. Anelka didn’t click in that huge loss, but what hurt Mumbai more was the absence of Cmovs in a shambolic performance. Cmovs’ sheer physical presence is a huge bonus when defending set pieces and crosses. He’s also a tough tackler, makes no-nonsense clearances and has unending stamina. After training in the harsh sun in Kolkata before the opener, we asked Mumbai assistant coach Steve Darby what he thinks of him: “He’s a beast,” he said — and that was enough. He may be a beast but Cmovs has committed just five fouls in the ISL so far — a very small number considering he plays at centre-back. He’s also a threat from distance, walking up from defence for freekicks which are over 30 yards away. Peter Reid, who revealed that he sat with his defenders for a video session before the match against Kerala, was in no doubt before the game that the Czech’s return would make his team stronger: “Cmovs is back from suspension and I believe that will make us more solid in the middle.” He also added that he had asked his team to play a higher line: “I can’t go into it in depth because I don’t want to give any tactics away but that’s a very good question and the answer is, yes I have (asked them to play a high line and press up the pitch).” And when a team presses up the pitch, a big defender who can sit as the last man is an added bonus. The writer tweets @TheFalseNo9