Ole Gunnar Solskjaer put his outburst at Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard down to the 'heat of the moment' in their League Cup semi-final second leg with Manchester City.
Solskjaer went ballistic at Lingard after he ceded possession in the 58th minute to spark a breakaway that sent Raheem Sterling through one-on-one with David de Gea. Sterling, who has never scored against United, hesitated and delayed his shot that eventually flew over the crossbar.
The United analysts in the press box screamed Lingard's forename in exasperation and Solskjaer yelled at Lingard with the intention of rebuking him, only the 27-year-old either did not hear Solskjaer or tried to ignore him.
Once Solskjaer got Lingard's attention, he was filmed by broadcasters appearing to say, 'Jesse, one more time and you're f------ off'. Lingard was substituted in the 65th minute for Andreas Pereira and Solskjaer attempted to make light of his eruption by ruffling Lingard's hair and putting an arm around him.
"Just heat of the moment once in a while," Solskjaer said after the 1-0 win. "When you lose the ball, make sure we try to play more. And in the next moment him and Victor [Lindelof] grew in confidence and started playing.
"Once in a while you're going to make mistakes but if you're going to come here and just defend you've got no chance. Yes, we created one or two dangerous moments with the way we tried to play our way out, but that's the way we want the box to express themselves.
"We have to do that to release the pressure."
Lingard has only managed two goals this season - against Astana in the Europa League and Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup - and not scored in the Premier League since Solskjaer's first game in charge at Cardiff City in December 2018.
Solskjaer has only started Lingard nine times in the league in a turbulent campaign for the England international, who was disciplined for a crass social media video he uploaded whilst on holiday. Lingard was dropped from the England squad by coach Gareth Southgate in October and is up against it to earn a recall for the European Championship.
