Senne Lammens has shown everything a goalkeeper needs to have to keep the goal safe in Man United's hard-fought victory over Everton at Hill Dickinson. From excellent saves, scientific defensive adjustments and composure, all are seen in Lammens when he stands steadily like a rock in the "Red Devils'" goal frame.
In Man United's victory, Lammens had up to 4 saves, especially one situation right in the penalty area. When opponents used crowded tactics for set pieces, Lammens was very clever in choosing unexpected positions, thereby catching the ball or punching it safely. Outside the pitch, captain Michael Carrick almost always gave the Belgian goalkeeper applause of encouragement.
When talking about the difficulties at Hill Dickinson, Lammens shared that sometimes in the opponent's set pieces, he had to stand behind the goal line to escape marking and clearly see the situation as well as the players participating in Everton's attack.
Everton has 10 corner kicks compared to only 1 for Man United. The Toffees have 35 crosses compared to only 6 for the away team. However, Everton only succeeded in 5/35 crosses and 2 of them were caught by Lammens. This performance helped Lammens have his 3rd clean sheet in the past 6 matches under the interim reign of Michael Carrick. Previously, under Ruben Amorim, Lammens only kept a clean sheet in 2/16 recent matches.
The miraculous save in the final minutes also proves the very good reflexes of the Belgian star after Michael Keane's long-range shot. In terms of expected goals prevented (xGP), Lammens is leading the Premier League with an average of 0.2 goals/match. In the match against Everton alone, that number is 0.86.
After the match, David Moyes said Lammens was too great and Michael Carrick used the word "excellent". Moyes himself also admitted that he did not think the Man United goalkeeper would play so well when under pressure from Everton's corner kick arrangements. A Sky Sports reporter asked Carrick about comparing Senne Lammens to Edwin van der Sar. The English captain did not praise his student too much but still gave a certain amount of praise, just enough.
To have Lammens as he is now, it is also necessary to thank Ruben Amorim for being decisive in eliminating Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir to give the opportunity to the former Royal Antwerp goalkeeper. If he had not been given the opportunity with confidence, Lammens might not have achieved his current form.
In a match where the trio Cunha - Mbeumo - Sesko combined to create the only goal, Lammens below protected the goal in absolute safety, Man United fans for the first time saw their 4 new signings being heroes in a match. When the season is entering the sprint stage, from old players to new players all play well, that is an unexpected advantage for Carrick.
A team with a less stable goalkeeper would lose 2 points in one night like this at Hill Dickinson. However, Lammens made no mistake, despite the countless chaos happening around.
