Jesse Lingard has fronted criticism over his disastrous backpass during Manchester United’s defeat to Young Boys.
The Reds were defeated 2-1 by the Swiss outfit despite taking a lead in the clash through Cristiano Ronaldo.
The defeat came following a disastrous backpass from Lingard, who had been brought on for Cristiano Ronaldo, the attacking midfielder inadvertently putting Theoson Siebatcheu through on goal to score the winner.
Following the game, Lingard has received intense criticism for his mistake, and the fact he replaced Ronaldo as a substitute certainly did not help.
But to Lingard’s credit, he has fronted that criticism with a heartfelt apology on Twitter.
He wrote: “Last night hurt. Everytime I pull on the shirt, I hope people understand what it means to me.
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“I always go out wanting to do the best for the club, the team and the fans. I’m upset for my part in the defeat. Mistakes happen in football but we pick ourselves up and go again.”
The mistake won’t have helped Lingard in his bid to convince Ole Gunnar Solskjaer he is Manchester United standard having spent the back-end of last season out on loan with West Ham.
But ultimately, the midfielder is right – mistakes happen – and he won’t be the last United player to give a goal away this month, let alone this season.
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And from a United fans’ perspective, the intense criticism and abuse serves very little.
United are very much still in the Champions League with five games to make up for their opening game slip, and it’s going to serve United much better if Lingard is given the support he needs to get back to form and confidence.