Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard has made two vital contributions in the last two games for the club to ease their goalscoring troubles.
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As seen in the clip below, he scored a stunning effort in the win over West Bromwich Albion last weekend, and prior to that he produced an impressive assist for Wayne Rooney to break the deadlock in the 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
It is no secret that United have struggled to score goals this season. Having scored just 17 in 12 Premier League games, only Liverpool and Crystal Palace have scored less out of the top 10 teams in the table.
That in turn led to criticism from former players and pundits including Paul Scholes, as reported by the BBC, and the fact that Louis van Gaal’s side were held to three consecutive goalless draws didn’t help matters.
However, after coming in for Memphis Depay, Lingard has changed all of that and has had a significant influence on the threat that United now pose in the final third.
The 22-year-old’s movement, positional sense and ability to run beyond the striker or run at defenders is making United more entertaining as well as effective.
With Wayne Rooney deployed as the lone striker, the Red Devils have struggled. The England captain has had to come deep to have an impact on a game, while Anthony Martial had been the only other forward that has used his pace to good affect.
That has now changed with the introduction of Lingard, as after biding his time by coming through the youth ranks and going out on loan, he is now being given his opportunity to impress at Old Trafford for the senior team.
While he still lacks consistency, arguably due to his age and lack of experience, he is certainly making a big difference to Van Gaal’s side.
After helping his team move to within two points of joint league leaders Manchester City and Arsenal, Lingard will now hope to keep his place and continue to shine as it will now be crucial to continue to improve his on-field chemistry with the likes of Rooney and Martial to ensure that the goals don’t dry up again.
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