Former Manchester United Star Rips Into Jesse Lingard For Not Celebrating His Goal

Jesse Lingard scored the winning goal for Manchester United against West Ham but now he's been criticised for not celebrating by a Premier League legend.

Lingard overcame a tricky week, in which his mistake led to United's loss in the Champions League, to score a brilliant winner and secure all three points for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team in the league on Sunday.

Before he came on as a substitute, and when he made his entrance into the game, West Ham fans had given the 28-year-old a warm reception, after his brilliant loan stint for them last season.

So the forward decided to respectfully not really celebrate when he scored, something that has really annoyed some people, including Michael Owen.

"The finish is absolutely sublime," Owen told Premier League Productions.

"The only thing that is poor about the whole scenario is that he doesn't celebrate.

"I can't believe players don't celebrate when they score a goal against their old club, he was only there two minutes.

"If he didn't want to score, if he's not that happy don't pull the trigger, pass the ball, if that's the case.

"It's the only thing that lets him down there, because everything else is absolutely spectacular."

Lingard's strike gave United all three points. Image: PA Images

Whilst the England forward did try to hold back on his celebrations, his teammates tried to encourage him to go crazy in front of the away fans.

Both Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored United's first, and Bruno Fernandes pushed the former Hammers' loanee towards to crown in an attempt to get him to celebrate.

Lingard later explained why he decided against celebrating. "They supported me in the loan spell and gave me a great reception, so it was only right to pay them back," he told MUTV.

"It was a great reception from the West Ham fans. I had a brilliant time here, but I had to do my bit."

Ronaldo wanted Lingard to celebrate the goal. Image: PA Images

Lingard's heroics still needed an assist in order to secure the three points for his side, with David de Gea saving an injury time penalty from Mark Noble.

The Spain keeper certainly didn't hold back with his celebrations, and nor did the rest of United's players at the full time whistle.

Topics: Football, Premier League, Manchester United, West Ham United, Jesse Lingard, Michael Owen

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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