Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hails Jesse Lingard's mental strength after Man Utd winner

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was delighted for Jesse Lingard after he put a difficult week behind him with the winning goal in Manchester United's dramatic 2-1 win at West Ham.

The 28-year-old made a howling error against Young Boys in the Champions League last Tuesday, gifting the Swiss champions a stoppage-time winner after dreadfully under-hitting a back pass to goalkeeper David de Gea.

But just five days later, Lingard went from zero to hero, coming off the bench against the side he starred for on loan during the second half of last season to score a sensational goal with just a minute of normal time remaining.

After the final whistle, Solskjaer revealed how happy he was for Lingard, praising his ability to deal with the peaks and troughs of football.

“I'm so happy for him because you know it's ups and downs in football," Solskjaer said (via Man Utd's official website). "He was low on Tuesday, now high again, he scored against Newcastle, you're up, you're down, you're up – but that's football. You have to live with it and Jesse has learned how to deal with ups and downs in football.

"You know, if you play for Man Utd you have to live with it, be able to handle that scrutiny. Don't worry about it because what we have to worry about is ourselves, what we do, what we say. We're a group, we're together, we work together, stick together through thick and thin. That's never going to be any different. This is a family.

"It was a great goal. Of course, he had a tough evening on Tuesday but he’s knuckled down and worked hard again. He’s been the same bright, positive lad and what a goal. A great pass by Nemanja, a good turn by Jesse and a great goal.”

Solskjaer also passed comment on what he thought were "two clear penalties" for United, although referee Martin Atkinson had other ideas as he waved away three appeals from Cristiano Ronaldo, who had drawn the Red Devils level after Said Benrahma's opening goal.

“I'm going to be careful with what I'm saying, but you've got to be wondering what's he's got to do to get a penalty. The first [obstruction by Coufal] and the third [tackle by Ogbonna] is 100% nailed on," Solskjaer remarked.

"The one where he gets pulled back backstick [by Cresswell] is probably [not obvious], but it's still a foul, he gets pulled down in the box. It's frustrating but they've got to look at it. It's two clear penalties. I think they’re stonewall. You can’t even argue against them.

"The first one, he puts his foot out and Ronaldo runs straight and is fouled. The last one, Paul [Pogba] had a foul against him on Zouma when he didn’t touch him but he went over him. Why is Cristiano’s not? Hopefully it won’t be that he’s never going to get a penalty.”

West Ham were awarded a penalty of their own in injury time following a handball by Luke Shaw, but club captain Mark Noble came off the bench and saw his effort kept out by De Gea - the first time he'd saved a penalty since April 2016, when he denied Romelu Lukaku in United's FA Cup semi-final clash with Everton.