United must lead charge in big games, insists Lingard
JESSE Lingard hailed yet another Manchester United comeback after drawing 2-2 with Arsenal on Wednesday night, but admits Jose Mourinho’s side must start regularly taking the lead in games again.
Lingard found a near-immediate response to Marcos Rojo’s second-half own goal, just as Anthony Martial had equalised minutes after Shkodran Mustafi’s opener on a frenetic night at Old Trafford.
United have come from behind to win or share the points on several occasions already this season, including their victories over Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Juventus, and last weekend’s draw at Southampton.
By contrast, United have only opened the scoring in five of their 15 Premier League games this season, and have fallen behind in 11 of their 21 games across all competitions.
Mourinho has called the character of his players into question of late, suggesting after the goalless draw with Crystal Palace that some players lacked “heart”, but the Portuguese commended United’s “great spirit” on Wednesday night.
Lingard echoed his manager’s thoughts on the comeback, which means United remain eight points behind fourth place in the Premier League table.
He said: “I think it’s always been an area that we obviously never give up. You’ve seen over the years the comebacks that United have made, so for us to just keep that spirit alive and never give up.
“Everyone that came off the bench showed their fighting spirit. We’re in it as a team.
“We had to put on a performance for the fans and show the passion on the pitch for them.
“I felt we deserved more. We worked hard throughout the game. We started off very well and I thought we probably did deserve more than that.”
United are currently on a fourgame domestic winless run, and when it was put to Lingard that opening the scoring in games more often might help ease their difficult start to the season, he agreed.
“Of course that would help,” said the winger. “Leading the game, especially going in at halftime, always puts you in a comfortable position and we can do that now for the remainder of this season.
“There’s always pressure on people’s shoulders when it comes to Man United and it’s how you deal with the pressure.”
Lingard added he and his team-mates remain confident of closing the gap on the top four.
“I think we believe that as a squad,” said the England international. “It’s a long way to go in the season, so for us it’s about taking every game as it comes and trying to get the three points. That’s the main thing.
“Especially this month. There’s a lot of games, so we need everyone in the squad to be fully fit.
“Obviously there will be a lot of rotation, but everyone is there to play and show 100% in each game.”
Meanwhile, Diogo Dalot says he goes to sleep thinking of Champions League qualification, such is the 19-year-old’s determination to ensure his dream move to United to play under “one of the best coaches ever” does not turn into a nightmare in his first season.
While there were signs of promise for the much-changed hosts, Wednesday night’s result represented a fourth straight winless Premier League match for under-performing United.
It also ratcheted up the pressure ahead of struggling Fulham’s visit this weekend, a match Dalot, fresh from making his first league start, is determined to win to kick-start their top-four hopes.
“Fulham is a big game,” the summer signing from Porto said. “I think in the Premier League it’s always a big game.
“That’s one of the things I have noticed here, there’s no weak games, there’s no chance to relax and most of all for us because we need to get points and to climb up the table.
“That’s what we want. We sleep thinking about (getting into the top four) and we wake up thinking about that and for sure we will get there.
“I think it is our main goal for now to get into the top four and we are going to fight for that and I think are will get there.”