Noble accuses Lingard of acting differently at Man Utd compared to West Ham

Noble claimed Lingard ‘dived’ while trying to win a penalty in Manchester United’s defeat to West Ham as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side crashed out of the League Cup

Mark Noble jokingly accused Jesse Lingard of acting differently at Old Trafford compared to when he returned to West Ham.

The Manchester United midfielder spent the second half of last season as Noble’s team-mate but scored the winning goal when their two teams met in the Premier League on Sunday.

Lingard was accused of “diving” by Noble after he went down in the penalty area during the first half of their Carabao Cup clash at Old Trafford on Wednesday night – something he reckons he would never have dared to do at the London Stadium a few days ago.

Referee Jon Moss waved the Red Devils’ appeals away, with the Irons captain being spared further blushes after he saw his last-minute penalty in the side’s meeting in London three days prior saved by David De Gea.

Speaking post-match, Noble told Sky Sports: “That’s football, he dived and I told him off for screaming, funnily enough he didn’t really do it at our place but he does it here!”

But the 34-year-old held no grudge with the United man and said: “We had a laugh on the pitch today, I love Jesse. He’s a great character and I’m so pleased he’s come here and getting his chance.

“He’s scored some fantastic goals obviously the one against us was hurtful, he’s a great lad and he deserves everything he gets.”

Lingard’s 89th-time winner on Sunday could have been ruled out had Noble put away his penalty after David Moyes opted to substitute him on to take it.

But the gamble failed to pay off for Moyes, with De Gea saving his first spot-kick since 2016.

” Things happen in football and sport as I said for Sunday night sitting at home felt sick as a pig but you wake up in the morning and go into training and you think I’ve got to play on Wednesday and you’ve got to get ready for it,” Noble admitted.

“You’re going to get knocked as a football player, I’ve missed penalties in the past, it was probably the occasion that why it was so high but at the end of the day you’ve got to step up and take responsibility and I missed.

“Tonight, come out here at Old Trafford – one of the best places in the world to play – and thoroughly enjoyed it.”

He continued: “This is what this game does to you obviously the last couple of days have been tough but what do you do? You put your boots back on and you come out and play.

“I thought the boys were fantastic, you could call it a glorified couple of B-teams really because managers changed the whole team’s but I thought the players tonight were fantastic for their hard fought work rate they probably deserved the 1-0.”

The West Ham skipper went on to explain the value of the competition by saying: “I think it gives a chance for players who aren’t playing regularly, we’ve had a good start to the season, we’ve got a good squad of players now so when you do get the chance you’re going to have to take it and I thought a lot of the boys did that tonight.

“A lot of them haven’t playing recently, we had four or five in the stands that weren’t stripped and on the bench so they’re going to have to play Saturday.

Noble concluded: “All in all it’s a fantastic night for West Ham , myself and all the lads who took part and got a victory at Man United because from my experience they don’t come round a lot.”

The Irons will now host Manchester City in the fourth round.