Ten Hag backs 'brilliant' De Gea after costly mistake in Man United's defeat to West Ham

Goalkeeper's error led directly to Hammers goal as United slip to second straight Premier League loss

David de Gea after conceding Said Benrahma's goal in Manchester United's 1-0 defeat to West Ham at London Stadium. PA

Erik ten Hag threw his support behind "brilliant" David de Gea after the goalkeeper's costly mistake in Manchester United's 1-0 defeat to West Ham United on Sunday.

United enjoyed the better chances in the opening half at London Stadium but went behind when De Gea somehow failed to keep out a tame bouncing shot from Said Benrahma which nestled in the bottom corner, despite the Spaniard getting a strong hand to the ball.

“I think we all know, David knows also, it’s a mistake, but he’s a brilliant goalkeeper," United manager Ten Hag said. "We may not be in this position when he didn’t show this shape over the course of the season. Mistakes are part of football and we have to live with it and we have to bounce back as a team.”

United were perhaps lucky not to concede a penalty when Victor Lindelof moved his arm into the path of a ball across the box from Benrahma, but the VAR decided not to award a penalty as the first half came to a close.

De Gea redeemed himself somewhat early in the second half with a superb reaction save to deny Tomas Soucek, but he looked shaky again as the Czech midfielder scored with a header in the 73rd minute, only to see the goal chalked off for offside.

The defeat was United's second in a row following the 1-0 loss at Brighton and Hove Albion, and their seemingly comfortable stroll to a top-four place and qualification for next season's Champions League is coming under increasing threat.

United are fourth in the Premier League on 63 points after 34 games, one point ahead of Liverpool and with a game in hand over the Merseysiders, who are on a six-match winning run. United's game in hand is against Chelsea, who may be enduring a miserable season but have the squad to take points from United.

“We have to keep going and we have to show character," Ten Hag said. "It is only four games and you need the energy. It is in your head, make sure it is not in your legs. Get ready for the games, clear head, energy, focus, and go.

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“I said to the players: ‘Don’t feel sorry for ourselves.’ We want to be in the Champions League, the Champions League is our life, and then you have to suffer and you have to sacrifice and, especially, you have to believe.

"As I just said in the dressing room... come on, [mistakes] can happen, in this season we've had some terrible setbacks and every time we bounced back so, once again, show the character and go on."

As Ten Hag and United aim to regroup, David Moyes said West Ham can use Sunday's win to build momentum for Thursday's Europa Conference League semi-final against AZ Alkmaar.

"We needed a top performance and tonight I felt we were getting much closer to it," West Ham manager Moyes said. "We were better with the ball, harder working, more compact when we needed to be because we played a really good team tonight and we'll play another one on Thursday in AZ, as you don’t play bad teams in European semi-finals either. Everyone’s got to be ready to help us get to a final."