Man Utd Bids Jesse Lingard Merited Farewell After Being Forced Off With Injury

Jesse Lingard received a lovely reception from Manchester United fans after being forced off with an injury during his return.

Now with Nottingham Forest, Lingard played at Old Trafford as an opposition player for the first time on Tuesday evening.

He told SPORTbible prior to the game: "It'll be good to hopefully get a send-off. Obviously I didn't do one last time. So, It'll be good to see the fans and my old teammates again.

"But we’ll be going there to win. It's not about seeing friends again. It's an important game, which we need to win."

He did get that farewell, but earlier than he'd have liked. 

Lingard went down early in the second half holding his hamstring, which was heavily taped beneath his shorts.

Forest's physio quickly came onto the field for a chat with Lingard. It looked like both parties knew this was the end of the line.

The 30-year-old got to his feet to walk off the pitch at the far side as Lewis O'Brien replaced him. United fans that saw Lingard limping off decided to give him a rousing reception. Lingard responded by clapping back himself in a show of solidarity.

Despite the criticism he received in his final years at United, he was a valuable part of their recent history.

He scored the winner in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace in 2016, while also getting on the scoresheet in Carabao Cup victory over Southampton a year later.

It's why interim manager Ralf Rangnick's decision to leave him on the bench during his final home game back in May confused everyone involved with the club.

Source:sport Bible