Lingard: United Showed Character In Cup Win

Jesse Lingard felt Manchester United showed strength of character to progress to the Emirates FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The Reds knew victory over the Seagulls was vital to keep alive the prospect of some end-of-season silverware after the disappointing Champions League defeat to Sevilla in midweek.

Man of the Match Nemanja Matic delivered the cross for Romelu Lukaku to open the scoring with his 25th goal of the season, before the Serbian himself headed home late in the second half to secure the Reds' passage to the last-four tie at Wembley.

And Lingard, who, like Matic, enjoys scoring in the FA Cup after bagging two in the cup journey so far this season, admitted the win was all that mattered after the midweek loss.

"They [Brighton] sat back and hit us on the counter-attack a few times, which we were obviously aware of before the match, but we knew we needed to win tonight and we got the win, which was the most important thing," he said.

"Of course [confidence took a knock after Tuesday night]. It's always difficult for a team to be knocked out of a competition, but we showed the character tonight to bounce back and not let anything faze us."

Lukaku opened the scoring shortly before half-time and Lingard was full of praise for his top-scoring team-mate and close friend.

"We know what he possesses and he has that presence up front for us," Jesse said. "He's that lone man who holds the ball up well for us. For him to score that many goals at this time of the season is great."

United's semi-final opponents will be revealed in Sunday evening's draw and Lingard feels the fact the last-four ties are played at the home of football makes them even more special.

"Yes, of course [it's always good to go back to Wembley]," he added. "Semi-finals are always big and it's like the final, you could say, at a neutral ground, so we're excited and we'll see who we get in the draw,"he continued.

"Any opportunity to win a trophy is always good for the team and the fans, so if we can get a trophy out of the season, it'll be good.

"The semi-final keeps everyone motivated and we have something to look forward to, but saying that, in the Premier League, we need to maintain that second spot and keep the pressure on at the top."