Lingard Praises Match-winner Zlatan

Manchester United's Jesse Lingard was full of praise for match-winner Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the Reds’ 2-0 win over West Brom.

The Swedish striker bagged both goals to give United a third Premier League win on the bounce, two of them coming on the road.

When asked about Man of the Match Zlatan, Lingard told MUTV: "He’s a natural goalscorer. You could see that by how well he took his goals.

"He is great to play alongside because he makes such great runs and that makes him easy to link up with."

Lingard was the provider for the first goal when his cross was nodded home by Ibrahimovic on five minutes.

"The manager just told me to make sure I noticed the gaps so I could run in behind and I looked up and saw Zlatan in the box and he finished with a great header," recounted the England international.

The forward also credited the defence for their resolve against West Brom’s physical approach.

"They have some tall lads but I thought we dealt with that very well," he added. "They [the defenders] knew that it would be tough to win things in the air against players with such height but we matched them and deserved a clean sheet."

Now unbeaten in the last seven league games, United are stringing together a consistent run of form.

Lingard stated:"I think we are getting into a rhythm now. We have players coming back, so we have a full squad to pick from and everybody knows their role and is going about their job so well at the moment."

After a hectic week, the Reds now have a break until Boxing Day and Lingard is looking forward to a well-earned rest before the visit of Sunderland.

"It’s come at the right time," he admitted. "We can relax with our families. We can then come in refreshed on Tuesday ready and raring to go for Boxing Day."