Michael Owen has lambasted Jesse Lingard after his winning goal for Manchester United against West Ham on Sunday.
Owen, a former United and Liverpool player, criticised the 28-year-old for choosing to not celebrate his goal against his former side.
Owen told Premier League productions (via Metro): “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.”
However, he did preface that the finish was “sublime” but reiterated his opinion that the lack of a celebration was poor.
You can see Lingard’s spectacular match-winner against West Ham below.
? @JesseLingard launching rockets!#MUFC | #WHUMUN pic.twitter.com/MFAeaeB594
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 19, 2021
The goal was Lingard’s second of the season, with his first also coming off the bench in the 4-1 win over Newcastle. Lingard has a very bipolar week, with his goals sandwiching a catastrophic error in midweek that saw United fall to defeat on the opening night of their Champions League campaign against Swiss Champions BSC Young Boys.
You can also see Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes both push Lingard to celebrate, but the England international only allowed himself a smile, choosing not to celebrate against the club he was on loan at last season.
Quite why Owen cares as much as he seems to is beyond us, with the pundit really going in for Lingard here.