LINTHE NEXT ROUND
JESSE AND LUKAKU STRIKE LATE TO SEND UNITED THROUGH IN FA CUP
JESSE Lingard does not do tap-ins.
Just as it seemed United were heading for a dreaded replay, after toiling for 80 minutes against Championship highfliers Derby, the Warrington lad stepped up with a now trademark thunderbolt. And should we be surprised? It was Lingard’s 11th goal of the season - his seventh since the start of December - and each one of them have been special.
To think, eyebrows were raised when he was handed a £100,000-a-week wage increase back in April.
Partly why Henrikh Mkhitaryan has barely got a look in at No.10 has been down to the 25-year-old’s form - and he just seems to keep on getting better and better.
With six months to go until the World Cup, it is hard to see Lingard not taking the tournament by storm in this kind of form.
What that means for Mkhitaryan remains to be seen.
The manner in which the Armenian grasped his chance after his last exile, more than a year ago showed he had the fight to be a Jose Mourinho player.
Despite nearly two months on the sidelines, there was such confidence and verve to his play.
He quickly proved that he had the guile and class to be a United playmaker, but he has not yet looked at those levels since returning over the festive period. Summoning that spirit has not been so easy.
In just his second start since November 5, the 28-year-old looked worryingly short of confidence despite playing in his favoured No.10 role and having licence to roam under the lights against Derby.
Those flicks, those incisive passes, that wizardry that made him one of Europe’s great No.10s was nowhere to be seen as he blew cold in the Manchester
chill. Ironically, a misplaced through ball nearly played in Derby for the opener just as Mourinho emerged from the dugout midway through the first-half. Whenever he was given the ball, Mkhitaryan looked to go short and direct, which is just not his style even when he is not on form. Think back to those heady days in August, when the Armenian pulled an assist out of thin air when many forgot he was still on the pitch in the closing stages. It was a priceless attribute.
But Mkhitaryan did not emerge after the break, duly replaced by Romelu Lukaku, and it was the in-form ‘Messi’ Lingard who instead stepped into the No.10 role.
Typically, he delivered before Lukaku added a second to send United into Monday’s fourth round draw.
Maybe Mesut Ozil will not be needed after all.
It is hard to see Lingard not taking the World Cup by storm in this kind of form Ciaran Kelly