Lingard was returning to his old stomping ground as a Nottingham Forest player following his summer departure from Manchester United.
It was not exactly a fairy tale return for the England international, with Forest beaten 3-0 and the night ending early for himself, trudging off injured on 53 minutes.
However, he returned to the pitch at the end of the game to have a nice moment with his friend, shaking hands and swapping shirts with his old teammate.
Rashford posted pictures of the pair on Instagram and wrote: ‘More than just a friend, Good to see you bro.’
Lingard responded: ‘All love bro,’ while he also thanked the Old Trafford fans for their warm reception when he left the field in the second half.
‘Disappointing result to end the year,’ he posted. ‘Time to focus on the next game. Just want to say thank you for the warm reception, old Trafford will always have a special place in my heart and @officialnffc fans unbelievable support once again thank you.’
The Red Devils stay fifth in the Premier League with their three points against Forest, although they are just one point behind Tottenham and with a game in hand on the team in fourth.
Defeat for Forest leaves Steve Cooper’s team 19th but it is still very tight at the bottom of the table as they are just one point behind West Ham in 16th.
Cooper said of the defeat in Manchester: ‘We never gave up in the game. I’ve no problems with the attitude and the commitment – a little bit with the decision-making.
‘The overriding factor is United were better than us tonight and deserved to win the game. But I just think we lacked quality and, for me, belief when we had moments to make a difference in the game. That’s something we are going to have to do better going forward.’
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