Gard of honour
Ole happy with midfielder’s response
LONDON: Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard is fighting for his spot in the team and the England international knows how to bounce back from setbacks, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.
Lingard drew criticism after his stray pass gifted Swiss club Young Boys a last-gasp winner in the Champions League last Tuesday, but he redeemed himself by scoring a stunning late goal in Sunday’s 2-1 win at West Ham.
The 28-year-old, who flourished last season on loan at West Ham and earned a recall to the England squad, has two goals in four matches for Manchester this season.
“I think today (Sunday) was a good answer. You know Jesse wants to fight for his place. He wants to be part of a Man United team that he feels is going places,” Solskjaer said.
“He’s really contributing ... I’m so happy and pleased for him that he handles the setbacks, he handles the highs and the lows really well.
“He is becoming a grown man, and he’s a very good player.”
United, who are third in the Premier League, will face West Ham again tomorrow in the League Cup third-round tie at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer said he will make a few changes to the team for that game, with Lingard set to feature against the East London club.
On Sunday, West Ham had gone ahead on the half-hour mark with a deflected strike from Said Benrahma but the visitors responded quickly, Cristiano Ronaldo heading a Bruno Fernandes cross at Lukasz Fabianksi and following up to tap the ball into the net.
West Ham were awarded a penalty moments after Lingard’s goal for a handball by defender Luke Shaw.
Mark Noble stepped up to take the penalty immediately after coming off the bench but De Gea guessed correctly and dived to turn his spot-kick away.
United are second in the standings with 13 points from five games while West Ham are eighth after suffering their first defeat of the season.
It was the first time De Gea had kept out a penalty since April 2016, having let in the previous 40 spot-kicks he had faced including 11 in the shootout in last season’s Europa League final loss to Villarreal.
“It was the last minute, I made the save. Going through my head was ‘save the ball’. It’s a massive three points for us,” De Gea said.
“It was a really tough game, both teams had good chances, again a great goal from Jesse. In the dressing room we said the three points were the most important thing.”