Rio Ferdinand criticises Jesse Lingard for ‘big mistake’

Young Boys capitalised on poor Lingard pass to grab 95th minute winner

Rio Ferdinand has criticised the mistake made by Jesse Lingard which led to United conceding an injury-time winner against Young Boys in their first Champions League group tie.

The Red Devils took the lead in the 13th minute thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s tidy finish, however, they were soon reduced to 10-men after Aaron Wan-Bissaka saw red for his tackle in the 35th minute.

The home side took full advantage of their extra man and levelled proceedings in the 66th minute courtesy of a Moumi Ngamaleu strike. 

The game was heading for a draw – which, considering the red card, wouldn’t have been a bad result for Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side – before Lingard’s attempted back-pass was easily intercepted by Jordan Siebatcheu, who made no mistake with his finish to secure a famous victory for Young Boys.

Lingard, who replaced Ronaldo in the 72nd minute, is yet to start for United this season and has seen all of his game time come from the bench.

It's disappointment for Man Utd, as Young Boys snatch it late in Switzerland!

Jesse Lingard makes a costly error and Jordan Siebatcheu nips in to apply the finish and send the home crowd wild! ⚽#UCL pic.twitter.com/vZimQoMaIz

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 14, 2021

Many people – including Ferdinand – have likened Tuesday night’s result to the one Solskjær’s men suffered last season when they were beaten 2-1 away to Istanbul Basaksehir – a result which had a significant impact on them eventually being unable to progress out of their group.

He also insisted that losing Wan-Bissaka to a red card had a massive impact on the outcome of the game.

“This is Basaksehir all over again. It’s a big mistake from Jesse. Wherever you go in Europe you’ve got to be on your game. It was a bad tackle from Wan-Bissaka and the game turned on its head totally,” said the former United defender, speaking on BT Sport.

Despite Lingard’s costly mistake, United skipper Harry Maguire refused to blame the 28-year-old and stated that his team-mates would be there to support him.

‘That’s football. People make mistakes – we’re not blaming Jesse. I’m sure everyone on that pitch today has made a mistake. I’m sure Jesse will pick himself up,” said Maguire.

After the game, Solskjaer received criticism on social media from numerous United fans who were annoyed at his failure to introduce substitutes when the away side needed them the most.

This is a belief shared by former Red Devils midfielder Paul Scholes, who also suggested that the manager should’ve made substitutions at an earlier stage.

“It’s not a complete disaster. Jesse will be disappointed. It all stems from the sending off. United were quite comfortable up to that point. They really couldn’t get out of their half in the second half. I think they needed to bring a bit of pace on earlier, with Martial or Greenwood,” said Scholes.