Jesse Lingard: I had a smile from start to finish on dream West Ham debut

POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Jack Rosser @JackRosser_4 February 2021

Jesse Lingard says he is glad to be back enjoying his football again after scoring twice on a dream debut for West Ham last night.

The on-loan midfielder made an instant impact for the Hammers with a brilliant display on what was his first Premier League start for 399 days.

Lingard, 28, fell out of favour at Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but shone as West Ham moved to within two points of the Champions League places with an impressive win at Villa Park.

“I had a smile from start to finish,” said Lingard, who brought energy, creativity and quality to an in-form West Ham side.

“I just love football and enjoy playing football. When you enjoy football, you get the rewards. The lads helped me settle in at the start of the week and have been really welcoming.

“I fitted into the team fairly quickly and got used to everybody. Three points is much deserved.”

In front of England manager Gareth Southgate, Lingard (left, celebrating his second goal) produced the sort of display he hopes will get him back into contention for an international recall ahead of the Euros.

Lingard linked up well with Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio and scored West Ham’s second goal with a left-footed strike early in the second half. He netted his second goal late on to seal victory, as the Hammers continued their fine start to 2021 under David Moyes.

There were a few raised eyebrows when West Ham signed Lingard on loan, but he has already shown his worth to the Hammers boss.

“I like to get on the ball and try and make things happen,” said Lingard. “I felt fairly confident coming into the game, I just wanted to get out on the pitch and play.

“I’ve waited all that time to finally be on that pitch and enjoy that moment.

“I’ve been on at myself about being clinical in front of goal and being ruthless. I had a couple [of chances] in the first half that maybe should have gone in, but I kept going, getting in the right positions and the two came off.”

His brace caught the eye but his work rate off the ball will also have pleased Moyes.

“We’ve got players who can make things happen and get on the ball and we all work hard for each other,” said Lingard. “David Moyes teams like to work hard, run and work off the ball and you get rewarded for that.”

Lingard has made no secret of his desire to use his time at West Ham to get back into the England squad for this summer’s Euros.

He has not played for England since the Nations League Finals in June 2019, but Moyes believes he can earn a recall if he continues to perform.

“It is great when you bring someone in and they do well,” Moyes said. “If he keeps up the form he showed tonight, and he is not completely match fit, scoring the goals, he will not be far way from Gareth Southgate’s England squad in the summer.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in