Lingard is born again, West Ham dominate Blades

Jesse Lingard’s January move to West Ham is proving one of the best the England midfielder has ever made. Tonight he produced yet another sublime performance as the Hammers’ victory over blunt Blades lifted them into fourth. Frozen out of the first-team picture by Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford, the 28-year-old is already an important player for David Moyes’ side.

It’s difficult for a player who’s training hard, but is kept out of the team. Lingard’s Manchester United career stalled under the Norwegian who is now ’playing with a smile’ again.

"First and foremost, I'm here at West Ham to play, win and help the team. I hope I can do that and we'll see where we're at come the end of the season. But it's about playing with a smile on my face and enjoying my football and getting back to the old Jesse. Football is a lot of ups and downs - people go through different stages and it's not just a straight road to the top. There are a lot of setbacks which most people don't see and a lot of things that go on behind closed doors."

With Euro 2020 fast approaching, Lingard is making a serious claim for a place in the England squad for the tournament. It will remain a mystery just why Manchester United don’t seem to have a place for an England international on their team.

Before the European Championship, there’s still a small thing of playing in the Premier League on a regular basis. Lingard and his new team-mates certainly did their job properly on Monday night.

West Ham got into the match knowing that a win over the struggling Blades would see them break into the Premier League’s top four. And David Moyes’ team certainly looked like a team fighting to reach one of the Champions League places. They thought they’d got a chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot early on, but VAR intervened and the chance was gone.

Sheffield United produced a spirited display and came close on a couple of occasions, but Chris Basham silly foul on Lingard gave the Hammers a great chance to score. Jesse himself showed initiative as he grabbed the ball to take the spot kick, but after a chat with Declan Rice had to give it up. Captain Rice dispatched the penalty to make it 1-0 just before the break. When Issa Diop headed in after a corner the writing was on the wall for Sheffield United. It was 2-0 with an hour gone. Ryan Fredericks added the third with a fine low finish in the injury time to complete a miserable night for the visitors.

The visitors did gave it a good go for the remainder of the match, but they failed to find the net with any of their half chances. Before the match, manager Chris Wilder spoke about the sizeable challenge of staying up. After this defeat – the challenge got even tougher.

As for Lingard, he’s finally playing again. And if West Ham continue to play this well, he will indeed be playing with a smile on his face.

PREMIER LEAGUE 24th Round

Saturday

Leicester - Liverpool 3-1 (0-0)

/Salah 67 - Madison 77, Vardy 79, Barnes 85/

Crystal Palace - Burnley 0-3 (0-2)

/Gudmundsson 5, Rodriguez 10, Lowton 47/

Brighton - Aston Villa 0-0

Sunday

Southampton - Wolverhampton 1-2 (1-0)

/Ings 25 - Neves 53 pen, Neto 66/

WBA - Manchester United 1-1 (1-1)

/Diagne 2 - Fernandes 45/

Arsenal - Leeds 4-2 (3-0)

/Aubameyang 13' 41, 47, Bellerin 45 - Struijk 58, Costa 69/

Everton - Fulham 0-2 (0-0)

/Maja 48, 65/

Monday

West Ham - Sheffield United 3-0 (1-0)

/Rice 41 pen, Diop 58, Fredericks 90+6/

Chelsea - Newcastle United 2-0 (2-0)

/Giroud 31, Werner 39/