David de Gea is a mentality monster! Winners and losers as goalkeeper goes from zero to hero in FA Cup semi-final shootout win against Brighton

Football's history is littered with examples of fine goalkeepers who were eventually swallowed by their own mistakes and self-doubt.

Iker Casillas was forced to leave Real Madrid two years after being dropped by Jose Mourinho and was never the same at Porto. Loris Karius never recovered from his Champions League final embarrassment in Kiev. Joe Hart was forced out by Pep Guardiola and it was all downhill from there.

De Gea had a horrific night at the Sanchez Pizjuan, playing his part in all the goals of United's 3-0 surrender to Sevilla. But at Wembley, he showed the psyche of a world-class player, redeeming himself for his suspect kicking by demonstrating his undeniable qualities as a shot stopper.

His first act was to tip away Alexis Mac Allister's dangerous free-kick, and in the second half he made acrobatic stops from Julio Enciso and March. Right before the shootout, he made a brave save with his foot to stop Kaoru Mitoma.

And he was happy to acknowledge his problems with passing out from the back, pumping the ball away to safety whenever he was under pressure.

The Spaniard still might not be United's best long-term solution in goal and there is a strong argument against renewing his contract.

But he is still capable of match-winning performances like this, and after the week he has had, that says a lot about his mentality.

If De Gea was outstanding at one end, United's forwards left a lot to be desired down the other.

Anthony Martial did almost nothing of note, sending his one chance woefully over the bar when he had other options. The Frenchman also lacked pace and energy and his passing was sloppy, bungling more than one promising move.

Antony was also disappointing. The Brazilian made a few dangerous runs against Brighton, but time and time again he made the wrong decision. He opted for a soft shot straight into Robert Sanchez when Bruno Fernandes was screaming for the ball and after running through Brighton's defence he made a botched pass to Martial.

Marcus Rashford performed best of the three starting forwards and was close to grabbing the winner just before full-time, only to be thwarted by a fine Sanchez save. He also flashed a shot just wide in extra-time after a storming run, but the England forward was almost anonymous in the first half.

Against an imperious Man City defence in the final, United's attackers will need to be a lot sharper if they are to have any hope of winning.

De Gea did not perform the only resurrection at Wembley. But while the Spaniard's reputation had only plummeted three days previously, Lindelof and Wan-Bissaka had been written off long ago.

Wan-Bissaka was widely expected to leave Old Trafford last summer and did not manage to start a Premier League game under Erik ten Hag until January.

Lindelof, meanwhile, has only started six league games under the Dutchman and is the club's fourth-choice centre-back.

Wan-Bissaka's recovery began a few months back, and has slowly but surely won the battle with Diogo Dalot as the manager's first-choice right back.

This was his graduation, an almost flawless display against one of the most exciting attacks in the Premier League.

Lindelof had a more understated performance but was just as effective, always keeping tight to his marker and making sure that whenever he chose to dive in, he won the ball, unless he was making a tactical foul.

The Swede was calm and comfortable on the ball and under pressure, in contrast with how Harry Maguire has looked in recent weeks.

And when the pressure of taking the crucial penalty rested on his shoulders, he slotted it home with power and precision.

Poor old Solly March.

No-one has contributed to more Brighton goals this season than the midfielder, and he had scored three and provided three assists in his previous seven matches.

But he will be hugely disappointed with himself for skying his penalty, especially as De Gea had been unable to get a hand on any of the previous six Brighton spot-kicks.

He had another decent opportunity to score during the match, and while De Gea did well to get low and parry his shot, March might also feel that he could have done better with that attempt.

But he cannot and should not be painted as the villain in Brighton's courageous performance. Someone has to win a shootout, and it only takes one player to miss.

Foreign managers are sometimes accused of not respecting the domestic cups. Not Erik ten Hag, who in his first season in English football has guided United to two finals having taken both the Carabao Cup and FA Cups deadly seriously.

With very few exceptions, such as against Charlton and Reading, he has not used the cups as an opportunity to rest his top players, even when they are on the brink of burnout from going deep in four competitions.

The Dutchman savours the big occasion and after yearning for big days out at Wembley in the last few years, United will have had three trips to the famous arch by the end of the season.

Ten Hag also deserves credit for helping United see off Brighton, one of the success stories of the year, just days after their harrowing Europa League elimination to Sevilla.

And he did that thanks to a pragmatic approach, allowing Brighton to have most of the possession and looking to pick them off on the counter-attack.

He had to sacrifice his ideals but he got the job done and United are heading back to Wembley.

You had to feel for everyone involved with Brighton after they did almost everything right in the match apart from take their chances, both over 120 minutes and in the shootout.

The Seagulls are a model club in every sense, an example of what you can achieve with a forward-thinking recruitment plan and an ambitious scouting network.

They are on their third manager since winning promotion to the Premier League in 2017, and with each change they have gone from strength to strength, getting even better results with Roberto De Zerbi than under Graham Potter after he was headhunted by Chelsea.

But this was the club's big moment, the chance to reach their first major cup final in 40 years, and they didn't take it.

This was their sixth visit to Wembley and they have never managed to win at the famous stadium, be it under the famous twin towers of the historic ground or the arch of the renovated arena.

They lost 1-0 to Manchester City in their last FA Cup semi-final in 2019, while they were beaten by Tottenham in the Premier League in 2018 while Spurs were waiting for their new stadium to be built.

They lost 3-1 to Notts County in the Division Two play-off in 1991 and they twice faced Manchester United in the 1983 FA Cup final, drawing 3-3 the first time around before going down 4-0 in the replay.

The Seagulls must be sick of the sight of the stadium. But if they keep up their tremendous progress under De Zerbi, it won't be long before they are back.