JESSE LINGARD was consoled by captain Harry Maguire after his gaffe handed Young Boys a last-gasp winner against Manchester United.
The Red Devils midfielder endured a torrid time when he came off the bench to replace Cristiano Ronaldo in Switzerland.
Lingard – who has only made three substitute appearances for United this season – looked understandably rusty in an unfamiliar false-nine role as the ten-man Red Devils looked to cling on for a point.
Despite playing for over 20 minutes, Lingard had just SIX touches on the ball.
He managed just ONE completed pass to a team-mate, losing possession five times.
And Lingard’s final touch proved to be United’s undoing, as the England ace teed up Theoson Siebatcheu to fire past David De Gea with a horror back pass.
The Young Boys sub made no mistake as he clinched a 2-1 victory, sparking wild scenes at the Wankdorf Stadium.
Lingard, who spend the second half of last season on loan at West Ham, looked devastated at the final whistle, knowing he had cost his side a crucial point.
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And it was captain Maguire who consoled Lingard, before launching a passionate defence of his team-mate.
The Red Devils skipper said: “That’s football. People make mistakes – we’re not blaming Jesse.
“I’m sure everyone on that pitch today has made a mistake. I’m sure Jesse will pick himself up.
“It’s the first game in the group. We’ve got many games to bounce back and we must do.
“We’ll try and pick up three points in our next game and build momentum from there.
“We started the second half well. I think the changes helped us defend crosses a lot better.
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“We couldn’t really control the box with a back four. They didn’t really have any major chances. It’s disappointing to take at the end.”
Reflecting on his decision to bring Lingard on for Ronaldo, who had scored his third goal in two games earlier on, boss Solskjaer insisted: “The game had gone 70-odd minutes, they had been running a lot on Saturday and today.
“We wanted Nemanja Matic’s experience to keep hold of the ball and Jesse Lingard’s legs.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
