Harry Maguire believes Jesse Lingard’s embarrassing first-half miss was a turning point in Manchester United’s shock defeat at Watford on Sunday.
A terrible blunder from United goalkeeper David de Gea helped the Premier League basement side to a 2-0 victory for their first home win of the season and maiden victory under coach Nigel Pearson.
De Gea somehow let in Ismaila Sarr’s shot early in the second half before Troy Deeney quickly scored a penalty foolishly given away by Aaron Wan-Bissaka in a vital 2-0 win.
However Watford could easily have fallen behind had Lingard made the most of being put through one-on-one by Martial, the England midfielder opting to lift the ball over Ben Foster but seeing his shot also clear the crossbar.
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And Maguire admitted the chance was crucial for United, even alluding to his costly miss in the Newcastle defeat this season.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Maguire said: “He knows he has to score. That was a big chance in the game. The first goal is crucial. I missed one against Newcastle and we went on to lose.
“He has missed it, we moved on. We still had to go on and win the game but we didn’t.
“We were not good enough and we have to improve. It is something we cannot put our finger on. We are working hard in training. It is disappointing.”
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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was also critical of Lingard and his choice to chip Foster.
The under-pressure Norwegian added: “I don’t think the chip was the right option, but then I wasn’t on the pitch, it was Jesse.
“It was a good run and we could have been 1-0 up at half-time. Sometimes you miss the target, sometimes you score.
“It (the result) is very frustrating but we can do nothing about it now, we have to react. We have to pick ourselves up, don’t feel sorry for ourselves and we need a reaction.”
