On 23 October 2011, De Gea played as Manchester United suffered their worst home defeat since 1955 with a 6–1 loss against cross-town rivals Manchester City,
[49] the first time United had conceded six goals at home since 1930.
[50] De Gea was in goal during the league defeat to
Blackburn Rovers and was blamed by most media outlets for failing to deal with an aerial ball that led to the conceding of a late goal by
Grant Hanley in a 3–2 defeat.
[51] De Gea was nonplussed by the error, saying, "all keepers make mistakes once in a while and none of us like it when we do. I have every intention of spending many years here at Manchester United. I want to become a great United keeper and I want to earn and deserve the respect I hope to get,"
[52] and spoke of his intentions of surpassing his predecessor: "Hopefully, I will equal or even surpass the performance and contribution Edwin van der Sar made to the club."
[53] After this match, De Gea was dropped and replaced by United's second-choice goalkeeper,
Anders Lindegaard.
[54] An injury to Lindegaard saw De Gea return to the starting line-up for a 3–3 draw with Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge on 5 February 2012.
[55] De Gea later cited his last-minute save from
Juan Mata during this match as the turning point in his season, as he went on to play the club's last 19 matches, keeping eight clean sheets
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