David de Gea caught out of position as Ukraine punish error to sink Spain in Kyiv

David de Gea was caught out of position by Ukraine's Viktor Tsygankov as the latter scored the only goal of the match to sink Spain on Tuesday night. Despite being outplayed by Spain for much of the match, Ukraine scored with their first shot of the game to register a historic win over the 2010 World Cup winners. 

Widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, David de Gea's stock has fallen massively over the last two years ever since he made high profile errors at the 2018 World Cup. While the Spaniard made a relatively decent start to the season with Manchester United, his curious, error-prone nature once again came to the fore as his mistake allowed Ukraine to sneak a win.

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UEFA Nations League results: Spain vs Ukraine ends in an upset

Despite having over two-thirds of the possession and attempting 21 shots as compared to Ukraine's two, Spain had to pay the price for a lapse in concentration after Andriy Yarmolenko played a through ball for Viktor Tsygankov, leaving Spain's defence in no man's land. With David de Gea well off his line, Tsygankov comfortably slotted the ball away from the keeper into the empty net, handing an all-important lead to Andriy Shevchenko's side.

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Having been on the pitch for a mere 10 minutes, Tsygankov put his side ahead with his strike, which eventually turned out to be the winner for Ukraine. The hosts showed some resolute defending at the death to protect the lead as La Roja struggled for creativity in the final third. With the 1-0 loss in Kyiv, Spain's 15-match unbeaten run came to an end. 

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Despite the loss, Spain manager Luis Enrique was not willing to pin the blame on his No. 1 for Spain's Nations League defeat on Tuesday night. "You can always do more, but blaming De Gea is already a bad habit," he said during the post-game media session. "If David is blamed for a game like this, switch it off and we'll leave."

Enrique, instead, chose to laud the shift put in by the home side to keep his attackers at bay for much of the game. The former Barcelona boss lauded his opponents for catching Spain out in transition to score the winner. "If a team defends and keeps it at 0-0, they grow, and in one action they've caught us. We have to congratulate them."

Despite their first loss of the Nations League campaign, Spain remain top in their Group ahead of Germany, who played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Switzerland on Tuesday. 

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(Image Credits: David De Gea Instagram)