The England international discussed the importance of the 1-0 victory over Spurs at Wembley

Manchester United playmaker Jesse Lingard joked David de Gea’s performance in the 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur was a normal day for the Spanish international.

The Red Devils number one produced a masterclass at Wembley Stadium with several saves to earn Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men all three points in the Premier League.

Lingard was involved in the move which saw Marcus Rashford score with 44 played, but after it was all about one man as de Gea made 11 saves in the second half to keep a clean sheet in Brent.

“It was a normal day for David, but no he was excellent,” Lingard said. “It is like scoring a goal, so he saved us, but so did the defenders as well.

“Some of the saves I was like oh my god, but he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world - if not the best.

“Having a goalkeeper like that gives you extra confidence to go on and win because you know you have a great goalkeeper behind you.”

If United had lost to Spurs they would have been 13 points behind the Lilywhites with 16 fixtures left to play in this season’s Premier League.

A defeat to Tottenham would have made them hard to catch, but the Old Trafford side now trail the Lilywhites by only seven and the top four is suddenly a real possibility.

Lingard added: “This was a massive win and a confidence boost, but we need to keep this going.

“It was always going to be a test and we knew that from the beginning. We put them on the back foot from the off and then saw the second half out.”

While de Gea’s saves, particularly from Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld, were really key, it was Rashford who grabbed the only goal of the game.

After Lingard had intercepted Kieran Trippier’s poor pass, Paul Pogba spotted the run of the visiting attacker and picked him out with a fine through ball.

The England international raced away from Jan Vertonghen with ease and then fired into the bottom corner exquisitely past Hugo Lloris to make it 1-0.

It was no fluke according to Lingard, he explained: “After training sessions in Dubai, Marcus was practising day in, day out with the manager and it is for big games like this and moments like that.”