Jesse Lingard agreed that his goal in Manchester United's 3-1 win against Middlesbrough earlier on today was one of the best of his career so far after MUTV's Stewart Gardner suggested so in an interview after full-time at The Riverside Stadium.
The 24-year-old winger took the ball off Juan Mata on the half-way line and charged towards goal with the Spaniard and Marcus Rashford alongside him as options, but wasn't closed down by the defence and decided to let fly just outside the box which stunned Victor Valdes as the ball rocketing into the top right corner.
Man of the Match performance from Lingard
Jesse Lingard was subsequently named Man of the Match for his efforts throughout the game as well as the brilliant goal, and told MUTV that "there weren't many options so I decided to take it on myself and obviously it went into the top corner" as he was receiving his well-earned reward. The Warrington-born attacker added that he believes "every goal is important" and made sure he acknowledged the team effort by saying that it was a "massive win" for Manchester United seing as though it meant climbing the table for the first time since September 2016.
The dab was ditched for a tribute to rapper Drake
Lingard has been known to celebrate by performing the infamous 'dab' dance move, also commonly favoured by his good friend and teammate Paul Pogba, when he's scored in the past for the Reds. However, a first league goal of the season called for a new celebration. When asked what it was all about he responded by explaining it was a homage to Canadian rapper Drake, “there is a new album that’s just dropped, Drake’s” and stated that he promised one of his mates he'd do it if he scored.
The eye-catching effort just after the hour mark was his 5th goal of the 2016/2017 season after scoring twice in the Europa League as well as netting twice at Wembley in the EFL Cup Final against Southampton and the Community Shield match against Premier League champions Leicester City.