FC Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa is attracting lots of interest as he continues to impress in the Champions League. Tonight he got what we should call a goalkeeper hat-trick: assist, penalty save and clean sheet.
The 23-year-old goalkeeper is not only Porto’s first-choice goalkeeper but he has 7 caps for the Portugal national team since making his debut in October, 2021.
On Wednesday night, Costa saved another penalty – his second in the Champions League group stages against Bayer Leverkusen – and recorded an assist on top of a clean sheet.
Costa sends the ball long, down the left flank, to assist a goal from Wenderson Galeno. The Bundesliga side failed to respond and conceded another two goals, only to lose the game 3-0 as they sit bottom of the group behind Atletico Madrid.
What a way to stamp your mark on the game! 🤩
Galeno opened the scoring for Porto inside 6 minutes with this absolute gem of a goal… 💎#UCL pic.twitter.com/rZLndmqEQW
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 12, 2022
Footage courtesy of BT Sport
It has been well documented that Erik ten Hag wants to utilise playing out from the back, which will always be more difficult with a goalkeeper, like David de Gea, who isn’t comfortable in possession nor is willing enough to come off his line.
The Spaniard’s performance against Everton at the weekend would suggest otherwise, but we can’t sit here and ignore the fact his faults are a problem in Ten Hag’s system long-term.
Costa is one of few keepers linked with a move to United.
It sounds like he will be in high demand this summer!
Let us know in the comments section if you think United should give De Gea a new contract or search for a new No 1 to suit Ten Hag’s preferred style of football.