Mystical Power, the first foal of Champion Hurdle-winning mare Annie Power by superstar sire Galileo, made the perfect start to his career at Ballinrobe.

Sent off at the prohibitive odds of 2-5, he justified favouritism with the minimum of fuss despite perhaps lacking the fireworks that many expected.

Racing in the colours of J P McManus, the four-year-old is owned in a partnership along with Mrs John Magnier and Mrs Susannah Ricci, the latter also owned Annie Power.

Annie Power only suffered two defeats in a 17-race career under rules, with her two reverses coming at the Cheltenham Festival. The first when second to More Of That in the 2014 World Hurdle and then the following year in the Mares’ Hurdle when falling at the last with the race at her mercy.

In 2016 she ran in the Champion Hurdle, beating My Tent Or Years and she went on to follow up in the Aintree Hurdle before retirement.

Trained by Willie Mullins, just like Annie Power, Patrick Mullins had to get serious in the closing stages before Mystical Power pulled clear to beat Perfect Nelson by two and three-quarter lengths.

Patrick Mullins said: “I’m happy with that. His mother was all out to win in Galway first time and improved significantly, so he’s equalled his mother this far anyway.

“He’s a horse that has improved. The more work he’s got the more he’s improved and I think he’ll continue to improve. He got to the front very easily but I don’t think he did an awful lot when he got there.

“He’ll win plenty of races and I have to commend Ballinrobe on the fabulous job they’ve done with the ground here. We weren’t afraid to bring up a good horse like that. They do a super job and I hope they enjoyed seeing him here.

“He has been in Enda Bolger’s before coming to us and has done loads of jumping. Whether he goes for a winners’ bumper or maiden hurdle I don’t know, but he has lots of jumping done and jumps well.”

McManus’ racing manager Frank Berry said: “It was grand. He was a little bit green when he got to the front but you couldn’t have asked for anything more. He’ll tip away for the summer.”

Elina Svitolina urged tennis to focus on the suffering in Ukraine rather than issues the war is causing within the sport after reaching the second round of the French Open.

One of Ukraine’s highest-profile sports stars, Svitolina is playing her first grand slam since the Australian Open last year after giving birth to baby Skai in October.

She has been away from the locker room tensions caused by the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian players to continue competing and has been a prominent figure in campaigning for help for her country.

A day after Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk was booed by the Roland Garros crowd for refusing to shake hands with Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, Svitolina called for attention to stay on the bigger picture.

She said of her return to the sport: “What I found, I don’t know a nicer way to say, but a lot of rubbish is happening around the situation where we have to focus on the main point of what is going on.

“A lot of people, Ukrainian people, need help and need support. We are focusing on so many things like empty words, empty things that are not helping the situation, not helping anything.

“I want to invite everyone to focus on helping Ukrainians. To help kids, to help women who lost their husbands, because they are at the war and they are fighting for Ukraine. The kids, they’re losing their parents, they’re losing parts of their body.

“There is so many things that we can do and help in different ways. You can donate a couple of dollars, it might help and save lives. Or donate your time. We are missing the main point of all of that and talking, talking, talking about nothing.”

Svitolina came into the tournament on the back of her first title as a mother in Strasbourg and impressed in a 6-2 6-2 victory over 26th seed Martina Trevisan.

She is donating all her prize money from Strasbourg to Ukrainian children and has her own foundation that helps her homeland.

“I think war changed me in so many ways,” she said. “I think I treasure more my family, my time with my family, my time just on a daily basis.

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“I really try to understand that how lucky I am to be where I am and to have a voice, as well. Also to play in such big events, to motivate the young kids of Ukraine, to have this opportunity.

“In so many ways, I’m just grateful that my life turned like that, so that’s why right now I just want to give this little part to the people who need it the most.”

Fifth seed Caroline Garcia is the main French hope for this fortnight and she survived a scare in her opener, beating China’s Wang Xiyu 7-6 (4) 4-6 6-4.

Two top-16 seeds fell, with lucky loser Elina Avanesyan knocking out 12th seed Belinda Bencic 6-3 2-6 6-4, while former finalist Sloane Stephens beat 16th seed Karolina Pliskova 6-0 6-4.

Afterwards, Stephens was asked about the racist abuse she experiences on social media after the tournament partnered with an AI app to try to filter out offensive messages.

“It’s obviously been a problem my entire career,” said the American. “It has never stopped. If anything, it’s only gotten worse. I did hear about the software. I have not used it.

“I have a lot of key words banned on Instagram and all of these things but that doesn’t stop someone from just typing in an asterisk or typing it in a different way, which obviously software most of the time doesn’t catch.

“When there is FBI investigations going on with what people are saying to you online, it’s very serious. People online have the free rein to say and do whatever they want behind fake pages, which is obviously very troublesome.”

Newcastle will look all over the world to find the players that will give them the depth they need to compete next season, according to manager Eddie Howe.

A first season in the Champions League in 20 years means an increased workload for Howe’s squad next term, and conversations have already taken place between the manager and club officials over resources during the transfer window.

Injuries have stretched Newcastle thin at times this season despite recording their highest Premier League finish since 2003.

Howe felt his side lacked the quality in reserve to win the game in the second half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea that brought the curtain down on a memorable first full season in charge for the manager.

With the restrictions put in place by Financial Fair Play rules, he cited qualification for Europe’s top competition as the critical factor in freeing up the ownership to invest in recruitment.

Still, Howe warned the market may not be kind as the club seek to build a side capable of competing on all fronts.

“Yeah we’ve had discussions (on Saturday),” said the manager. “I don’t think (the budget) is ever outlined because there are so many variables to it, but certainly we know where we stand.

“When you’re sat in my shoes, it’s never as big as you want it to be.

“It’s a difficult one because we go into a lot of competitions next year, so we need the depth. I think this year we’ve been light, certainly in certain areas of the pitch. We’ve carried – in the second half of the season – four midfielders.

“You’re one injury away from a very difficult situation so I think we need a little bit more depth.

“We’re not there yet, you could see that (against Chelsea), but we are suffering from injuries. Certainly that’s a concern for us in that we do need to bolster our resources. We can’t be looking at one or two injuries and we’re in a difficult position.

“In the second half we were stretched and maybe lacking the bench that could have changed the game to win it.”

Newcastle won eight of their 10 league games in March and April to take control of their destiny in the race for the top four, but enjoyed just one more victory in their final five, securing their Champions League objective with a game to spare.

Howe pointed to disruption caused by injuries – key players Joelinton, Joe Willock and Nick Pope were unavailable for the game at Stamford Bridge, whilst Alexander Isak and Matt Targett have also missed significant chunks of the season – as something that must not be allowed to derail the team next term.

The visitors struggled after the break against Chelsea despite having had the better of a first half in which Anthony Gordon gave them the lead, later wiped out by a Kieran Trippier own goal.

“We’ve done it all season, we’ve been hugely competitive,” said Howe. “I don’t think we’ve been an easy game for anybody.

“The challenge for us next year is to maintain our standards and mentality, because when you come to these tough grounds, if you’re not robust enough to deal with the challenge, these can be really difficult games.

“The players that we currently have have to be fit and ready to go (next season). They have to be ready to prove how good we are all over again. We start at zero next season. I think that’s a healthy way to look at it.

“If we can add one or two players that make the difference in the transfer market, that would be good news.

“We’ll have our eyes and ears hopefully all over everything, whether that’s teams getting promoted, relegated; all over the world. As I’ve said many times, the market’s going to be difficult.”

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from May 29.

Liverpool and Juventus remembered a say day in 1985.

Everton celebrated survival.

Brazil came calling for Joelinton.

Brighton celebrated Julio Enciso’s goal of the season award.

Aston Villa are ready for Europe.

Manchester United enjoyed their winner.

The ups and downs of a Premier League season.

It will soon be time to do it all again…

Sheffield Wednesday were promoted at Wembley.

While Luton were celebrating after theirs.

Some solo strike from Lauren Hemp!

Stat of the day from Bayern Munich.

Neymar showed his support at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Parenting with Andy Murray.

Attention all pockets!

Azeem Rafiq’s remote control had a busy afternoon.

Lando met Spider-man at Monaco.

Then and now.

Tony Docherty insists “it’s time now” to try his hand at management after he ended his long working alliance with best friend Derek McInnes to become Dundee’s new boss.

The 52-year-old was a surprise appointment as Gary Bowyer’s successor on Monday, having spent the majority of his coaching career as assistant to McInnes at St Johnstone, Bristol City, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.

However, he feels the experience he has gained, allied to 18 years of living in Dundee and his motivation to prove himself as a manager will stand him in good stead as he goes out on his own with the newly-promoted cinch Premiership club.

“Twenty-four years I’ve been coaching,” he said. “I’ve been involved in European competition, I’ve been involved with the national team, I’ve been in the English Championship and the Scottish Premiership.

“I’ll bring passion, authenticity and a work ethic and that’s three ingredients that hopefully will make things work. I’m really, really excited. I’ve learned loads and it’s time now, it’s time.

“I’ve done the hard yards and I think what you get from a new manager is the hunger, motivation and desire to prove people wrong.

“You’re getting all of that with me and you’re also getting the experience and knowledge behind it so hopefully Dundee will get the benefit from that.

“I’ve lived here for 18 years. I know the pulse of this city and I know the passion of the fans. I’m desperate to let them see my team on the pitch and work to get a connection between the team and the fans.”

Docherty came into contention for the Dundee job because he was a coach in the Scotland set-up when Dens Park technical director Gordon Strachan was manager of the national team.

“I’ve worked with Derek for 15 years as assistant and I have had opportunities before but this one feels right for me. I’ve got a real gut feeling about it,” he said.

“Obviously I’ve got a relationship with Gordon Strachan since I worked with him in the national team and I’ve kept in touch with him on a regular basis so I know what the developments are here.

“When the opportunity came up, I spoke with Derek about it. We both knew this day was going to come and he’s fully supportive, it’s totally amicable.

“I’ve had extensive experience – over 750 games as an assistant – and I just felt the time was right for me to go and be the main man and call the shots. I’ve had opportunities to do it before but this one feels right.”

Docherty insists there will be no awkwardness when Dundee face McInnes’ Killie in the top flight next term.

“Not in the slightest,” he said. “Both of us are prepared for that. We’ve spoken about it (Docherty becoming a manager) a lot because we’ve spent that amount of time together.

“Derek’s a really close friend of mine. After my brother, he’s probably the next closest I’ve got so we have spoken about it. It’s something we agreed on amicably, it’s about the development of my career which he is fully supportive of.

“Yes, we’ll lock horns and that first game will be interesting. I think he knows all my tactics.”

Brendon McCullum is excited about the “magic” that could occur in the Ashes and has promised England will not move away from their aggressive approach at the first sign of danger.

England begin an eagerly-anticipated summer with a one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s on Thursday, but already much of the discourse is around the upcoming series with Australia.

After a string of poor showings both on home soil and Down Under, the script book was ripped up this time last year when Rob Key, managing director of men’s cricket at the England and Wales Cricket Board, decided to pair captain Ben Stokes and head coach McCullum together to revitalise red-ball cricket in this country.

The results were devastating with ‘Bazball’ taking the nation by storm with run-rates going through the roof, draws being discarded and the pressure of losing taken away, but the perennial question throughout England’s run of 10 wins from 12 Tests has been, can it be taken into the high-pressure stakes of an Ashes series?

McCullum said: “It’s a challenge, but it’s an exciting challenge.

“The more that’s at stake, the more it’s important to keep it simple and relaxed, to do what gives you your greatest chance.

“At the first sign of trouble you can’t run away from it, or at the first sign of all the eyeballs in the world watching you, you can’t run away from what’s been most successful for you.

“That’s when you should be at your clearest, keep things as simple as possible and that will be the message right throughout.”

Former New Zealand wicket-keeper McCullum is no stranger to battles with Australia, but modestly and perhaps unfairly suggested he was only good enough to scrap against teams wearing the baggy greens.

That is not the case for his England side, the 41-year-old insists.

“I’m not as good as these guys are, so you always felt like you were scrapping for something rather than being able to go toe to toe with them (Australia),” McCullum added.

“The ability to go toe-to-toe with a good side is where the magic happens.

“I think we’ve got the quality in our team and they’ve got the quality in their team to be a heavyweight contest so I’m excited about that.

“There’s so much excitement about what’s coming and there’s so much uncertainty for everyone and that’s where I think the real magic has the opportunity to come out. so we’re just excited about it.”

England’s ‘Bazball’ approach has been heavily debated since it arrived on the scene and at its height, Stokes’ side were scoring at 5.50 runs per over in Pakistan during the winter.

Whether or not that can be replicated remains to be seen, but McCullum does feel they should only get more consistent with time.

“To be fair, there’s some stuff we did last year that I didn’t really think was achievable but the guys were able to do it,” he admitted.

“If you are present and clear of mind, you’re able to make good decisions because you’re not worried about the outcome as such, you’re just able to adapt to what’s required.

“There will be periods where we’ll have to absorb pressure. It may also be that we’ll be able to put the handle down a bit more and achieve what we did last summer. We’ll just wait and see.”

A key part of England’s philosophy is a relaxed environment and spending quality time together, which occurred on Sunday when the team linked up for the first time – since the New Zealand series in February – for a round of golf at the Grove in Hertfordshire.

After facing Ireland this week, England will have 11 days before the Ashes opener at Edgbaston on June 16, but that will not be spent exclusively together, with a mixture of days off, training and some “quality time” arranged before the battle for the urn begins.

McCullum stated: “I think it’s a good build-up, I think it’s perfect.”

One man not set to be involved is Ben Foakes after he was left out of the Ireland Test in favour of the fit-again Jonny Bairstow, who will don the gloves and try to replicate his stunning 2022 form where he hit six hundreds.

“Well, I mean he’s an incredible player,” McCullum said of Bairstow.

“He’s a rare commodity and he’s able to do some things that other people just can’t.

“I think if he’s able to recapture even a glimpse of the form which he showed last summer, then our side does look really, really strong.”

Paddy Twomey will drop Noche Magica back to the minimum distance at Royal Ascot after he was caught late on in the Marble Hill Stakes on Saturday.

A debut winner over five furlongs at Cork, Twomey stepped him up to six furlongs for the Group Three at the Curragh.

Having travelled much the best throughout the race, he hit the front inside the final furlong but could not pull clear and was eventually reeled in late on by Jessica Harrington’s Givemethebeatboys.

Twomey now feels the decision has been made for him regarding Ascot, and it will be back to five furlongs for the Norfolk Stakes rather than the six of the Coventry.

“He won well over five in Cork and he shows us that blistering speed,” said Twomey.

“The Marble Hill was a fact-finding mission. He travelled and did everything right. He got to the front and just got nutted at the death.

“His mother (Pious Alexander) is a half-sister of Dandy Man and the family is all speed. I’d say we will go for the Norfolk.

“I was the most disappointed man at the Curragh but going forward, he probably did me a favour. I would have run him in the Coventry if he had won, but now we will go for the Norfolk.”

Cameron Norrie branded an umpiring call against him “absurd” and “unacceptable” after battling to a five-set victory over Benoit Paire in the first round of the French Open.

A British singles wipe-out looked to be on the cards for the second time in four editions in Paris when Norrie trailed 4-2 in the deciding set on Suzanne Lenglen but he fought back to defeat Frenchman Paire 7-5 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-4 and silence the lively home crowd.

A key moment occurred in the third game of the second set when, with Norrie serving at 30-30, umpire Nico Helwerth docked the 14th seed a point for a hindrance, claiming he had shouted out during play.

Paire went on to break serve and, although Norrie kept his protest brief on court, he made it clear in the press conference room just how unhappy he was.

“I think both of us didn’t know why he called it,” said Norrie. “I think Benoit thought it was for him, both of us were a bit confused. It was for sure a grunt. It was a big point. I don’t know why he felt it was necessary to get involved there. He gave me no warning whatsoever.

“It ultimately changed the momentum of the match. I was holding pretty comfortably, for the most part, up until that point. The next point Benoit had a winner and then I was a break down.

“It was strange. He must have thought that I said something, and I think for him to get involved there was absurd.”

Norrie cited another decision on Sunday against Dan Evans, when the British player was foot-faulted by a line judge at the far end of the court for his back foot crossing the centre line.

“I watched that and he was nowhere near foot-faulting and the guy is calling him on the other side of the net,” said Norrie.

“What are we doing here? I’m here playing tennis, competing as hard as I can, and to do that, a pretty big point. Maybe if I spoke to him now he thinks he’s wrong but, at the end of the day, I’m fighting my a**e off and one call could obviously influence the match.

“I did my best to try and not let it bother me. I’ve never been called for that before ever. I think it’s obviously unacceptable – that’s my point of view – but, if he makes a decision wrong, there’s no consequences. And, for me, if I do something wrong, there’s consequences.”

Paire, possessor of one of the best beards in sport but not one of the best temperaments, has toyed with retirement at the age of 34 and came into the event as a wild card ranked 134.

When they met in the same round at the US Open last summer, Norrie won two lightning quick sets 6-0 either side of a competitive second, with Paire packing up his bag before the match had finished.

But his attitude was very different here and he probably should have won a scrappy first set after leading by a break and having seven more break points.

Norrie has struggled for form over the past couple of months and was unable to wrest the momentum back from Paire during the second and third sets, with the crowd getting ever more involved, breaking out the Marseillaise and the Mexican wave.

The Frenchman seemed to settle for a decider after going an early break down in the fourth, and he looked on his way to victory when Norrie handed over another break to start the fifth, but the British number one was eventually rewarded for his probing.

He can expect a similar atmosphere in the next round, when he takes on a resurgent Lucas Pouille, who has been the toast of Roland Garros this week after coming through qualifying following injury and personal problems.

Norrie relishes such occasions, saying: “I think it’s great to play those matches in grand slams against home favourites, and I think that’s why I play tennis. That’s why I love those moments.

“To be on the flip side of that is difficult at times. I think the crowd can be tough at times, but I keep reminding myself it’s good to be playing, that I want to be out there competing and being in those tough moments when the crowd is against me.

“It makes it even better to come through those matches, so it was really cool to play on that court and against Benoit, who was competing really hard and also he came with a good level today.

“I didn’t play my best, and there’s a lot of the things I want to work on in practice tomorrow, but it’s good to get through it and nice to win a five-set match.”

Andrea Atzeni partnered Angers to an impressive victory in the Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen at Cologne on Monday.

Atzeni, who now rides as a freelance, teamed up with Mario Baratti, who is based in France, to win the German equivalent of the 2000 Guineas and deny Charlie Johnston and Ioritz Mendizabal with Finn’s Charm in second.

Angers had only won one of his six starts in France, and was third to Jean-Claude Rouget’s French Guineas fifth Valimi on his most recent outing.

Finn’s Charm attempted to make all under Mendizabal, with Roger Varian’s previously unbeaten Dragon Icon and Benacre, a stablemate of Finn’s Charm, within touching distance.

The leader briefly looked to have slipped the field before Atzeni brough Angers with a powerful run down the outside and he went on to win by six lengths.

Dhangadhi was third, just ahead of Benacre and Dragon Icon.

“He’s a lovely, big horse and ran very well in France the last day,” Atzeni told Wettstar.

“He gave me a nice feel going down to the start and his trainer Mario Baratti has done a great job to keep him spot on for this race, as it’s never easy to travel a horse to a different country.

“He looked the best horse in the paddock and he was by far the best horse in the race.”

“Mentally destroyed” Jack Draper cursed his injury luck once again after being forced out of the French Open with a shoulder problem.

The 21-year-old has struggled with hip and abdominal issues this season but declared himself fully fit ahead of the year’s second grand slam.

However, it became clear in the eighth game of his first-round contest against Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry that Draper was ailing physically again when he started to serve underarm.

He managed to hold serve to make it 4-4 but Etcheverry claimed the next two games to take the opening set, after which a resigned-looking Draper called the trainer.

He took some pills and tried to play on but, trailing 0-30 in the second game of the second set, pulled the plug and shook hands with his opponent before trudging off court.

“Yesterday during practice when I was hitting serves, I started to feel a bit of a twinge at the bottom of my shoulder,” said Draper.

“I took all the things I needed to go on court today, hoping it would settle down. But it didn’t. It got worse. I had every intention to try to compete and play well, but after the first game it was clear that it was very sore.

“I hate being the guy who is injured a lot. It’s difficult. Mentally, it’s extremely tough, tougher than playing and losing almost.

“I put in a lot of work. I had a good week last week and I’m coming here feeling optimistic but it’s not meant to be. I feel a bit mentally destroyed.”

There is no doubt about Draper’s potential but, rather like his friend Emma Raducanu, his body has so far been unable to hold up to the rigours of top-level tennis.

He is optimistic this issue will not seriously impact his grass-court prospects, with Wimbledon starting in five weeks.

“I said to my coach in the first set, ‘I’m not retiring from another match’,” said a dejected Draper. “I don’t want to do this. Even if I had to play three sets serving underarm, I don’t care, I just wanted to play.

“But there’s no point in making this worse. I’ve obviously got to think about the grass round the corner and hope it settles down before that.

“It’s not a tear or a strain, it’s something to do with the tendon at the top of my arm. And, if I’m trying to serve 130mph serves, the impact, it’s just going to get more and more sore.

“It’s a huge part of my game, my serve, so hopefully it settles down but I have no idea how long that might be.

“I think I’ll be more than fine for Wimbledon, it’s just what’s going on in the weeks coming up.”

Draper feels his tennis abilities are counting against him to a degree, with the British number four winning two matches in Lyon last week on his return from the abdominal injury he suffered in March.

“I’d almost maybe be happier in the future if I lost first or second round, to make sure I’m not coming back off a five week lay-off and winning three or two matches at a high level,” he said.

“Same in Indian wells, I won three matches and against (Carlos) Alcaraz it’s just too much. It’s really frustrating. But I will get there. It’s just a brutal sport.”

Anmaat secured his first Group One success when leading home a British one-two in the Prix d’Ispahan at ParisLongchamp.

The five-year-old progressed rapidly throughout an unbeaten 2022 which culminated in a Group Two success in the Prix Dollar at the same track on Arc weekend.

And following a pleasing return behind Adayar in the rearranged Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket, the Owen Burrows-trained runner showed his liking for the French capital once again on Monday afternoon.

Ridden with patience by Jim Crowley in the 10-furlong contest as David Simcock’s Light Infantry dictated terms on the front end from Joseph O’Brien’s Buckaroo, Anmaat was asked to go through the gears and deliver his challenge when angled out by his rider in the home straight.

But with Light Infantry and Buckaroo refusing to lie down, plus home contenders Erevann and Facteur Cheval quickening along with Anmaat, Burrows’ gelding had to pull out all the stops to claim gold in a fantastic five-way dash for the winning post, with Light Infantry holding on for the silver medal.

Crowley told Equidia: “It was a good finish. It was a bit messy early on, I thought I was a little bit far back. He picked up very well, he’s improving all the time, It’s lovely to win a Group One.

“I was a little bit concerned about the quicker ground but he’s handled it fine. I’m hoping he will improve and he will be even better with more cut in the ground as well.”

Manchester United have fought for success all year and David De Gea says they are ready for one more “special” battle against Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

Erik ten Hag’s first season in charge has been one of progress and, for the most part, positivity, with the side finishing third in the Premier League and sealing a Champions League return.

The Dutchman is only the second manager in United’s history to win a major trophy in his first season and has the chance to add to February’s Carabao Cup triumph this weekend.

Ten Hag’s Red Devils head to Wembley for the first all-Manchester FA Cup final, when they will attempt to add to their cabinet and stop rivals City’s attempts to win the treble.

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“We have to recover well and start to prepare for the game,” De Gea said. “Of course, we know it’s a big final, a special game.

“We’ve been the whole year fighting to be in that position to win titles and we will try absolutely everything to try to win.”

De Gea and his team-mates were all in at Carrington on Monday morning, with Sunday’s starters focused on recovery from the 2-1 comeback win against Fulham at a bouncing Old Trafford.

Kenny Tete had put the visitors ahead in the Premier League season finale and Marco Silva’s men would have extended their lead had Golden Glove winner De Gea not stopped Aleksandar Mitrovic’s spot-kick.

United kicked on after that, with Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes completing a victory that saw them beat Newcastle to third spot.

“We concede the first goal from a corner and then I think five minutes after we concede a penalty,” De Gea, whose contract has yet to be extended beyond the summer, said.

“I was very positive. I was feeling like ‘come on, you have to save this penalty, we have to finish properly the season at home, we have to win’.

“Then I make the save, everyone was happy, enjoying and I helped the team to win the three points today.

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“The manager wants us to be focused every game, winning every game. Before the game he was shouting before ‘come on guys, we have to finish properly, winning mentality’.

“So, yeah, we showed it again. 1-0 down, suffering a bit, but then we create chances and could have scored even more than two.

“But, like I say, a big way to finish the season with a victory and (it) gives a bit of enjoyment to the fans.”

The result saw United equal the club’s record of 27 home wins in all competitions in a single campaign, while also meaning they finished 17 points better off than last season.

“100 per cent, for sure, the improvement is there,” De Gea told MUTV. “Of course we still have a gap to improve but, yeah, a massive improvement from last season.

“Winning a cup, finish third – it’s never easy to finish in the Champions League places in England.

“And then we have another final, a big final, so I think at the moment it is a great year.”

As for Fulham, the defeat at Old Trafford was frustrating but this was a season to cherish having finished 10th on their return to the top-flight.

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Goalscoring right-back Tete said: “Unbelievable season, every single player.

“If you saw how we fought all season for every single point. Not even one game was easy for us.

“I am just proud of the boys. We said it as well to each other and this is something we have to build on.

“We know now what our standard is, we know now what we can bring. I can’t wait for next season.”