It was a good night for Manchester United and the men whose job it is to make this club great again.
At one end of Everton’s magnificent new home at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Benjamin Sesko converted a chance created by two more of United’s big summer signings, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, to fire Michael Carrick’s side closer to Champions League qualification.
More than £200million-worth of talent clicking into gear when it mattered most to score a devastating breakaway goal.
At the other end, the fourth player brought in this season to take United to the next level stood strong to ensure his team did not surrender their advantage in the face of a late Everton onslaught.
Senne Lammens has been the epitome of calm from the moment he took his place in the United goal for the first time in October. An attritional Monday night on Merseyside was his finest hour yet.
‘Bloody brilliant!’ was David Moyes’ verdict, and you couldn’t put it any better than the Everton manager.
Senne Lammens produced a man-of-the-match display in Man United’s 1-0 win at Everton
Lammens dealt brilliantly with the barrage of Everton corners as they tried to smother him
Of course, Moyes knows all about the pressure of life under the microscope at Old Trafford. The former United manager has lived it. Breathed it. Seen what it can do to the most talented of players.
So far, Lammens has navigated it all with the minimum of fuss even though, remarkably, this is only his second full season as a No 1 after breaking through at Royal Antwerp.
At 23, he is mature beyond his years with a talent and temperament that will only improve with time. Already, he looks like the kind of goalkeeper who can be the bedrock of this United team for another decade at least.
It’s hard to remember the unflappable young Belgian putting a foot wrong since he made his debut against Sunderland at Old Trafford earlier this season. Ironically, a rare moment of uncertainty came in the opening seconds against Everton when the ball was played back to Lammens from kick-off and his attempted punt upfield was charged down by Thierno Barry.
That was the nearest Everton went to unnerving the United keeper. As they flooded the box in the final minutes, searching for an equaliser from set-pieces with James Tarkowski in the role of mischief-maker, Lammens kept his head and his wits about him to withstand the pressure.
If he wasn’t catching the ball, he was reaching over a ruck of players to punch clear. It was exactly what Lammens had in mind in October when he described Premier League set-pieces as ‘war’.
He added at the time: ‘They hold you, they throw you down, they do all kinds of things, but the referees let play continue. I have never experienced this before.’
When the trench warfare abated and Michael Keane sent a missile arrowing towards the top corner in the 83rd minute, Lammens was equal to it as he tipped the ball over. Sesko might have got the headlines for his third crucial goal off the bench for Carrick, but United’s keeper was man of the match.
At 23, he is mature beyond his years with a talent and temperament that will only improve
‘For me, a goalkeeper has to be reliable and trustworthy,’ said Carrick. ‘Instead of creating a chaos, you want him to take the chaos away and calm things down. I think Senne does that.
‘Listen, that was a tough place, that last 15 minutes. The amount of crosses and corners and things that he had to deal with, and a couple of shots that he just catches and takes the sting out of it.
‘A major part of it is character, you know. That is a major attribute to have, especially playing here. The jump that he’s had is a big jump, no disrespect. It’s a huge jump and to take it like he has done and just get on with things speaks volumes of his personality to just deal with the environment and play at that level.’
Carrick was reluctant to be drawn into making comparisons between Lammens and Edwin van der Sar, even though he admitted there are similarities.
He need not have worried. Lammens seems about the last player who would get carried away, and United’s former Champions League winning keeper Van der Sar was already making those comparisons himself as he spoke to the youngster directly as a pundit on Sky Sports.
‘Like you said, if I’m in a comparison with Edwin van der Sar, it’s always nice to hear,’ replied Lammens modestly.
‘We knew it was going to be difficult. Everton are a really physical team, especially their defence is really big. We knew that the corners and the set-pieces were going to be difficult. It’s a strength of mine, so I’m happy I could help the team again.
‘I just try to stay calm and play my own game. I know I have the qualities – I wouldn’t be here otherwise. So I just believe in myself, the players around me, and my team-mates support me.’
It could have worked out very differently. United juggled Lammens and Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez right up until deadline day last summer.
Lammens receives the adulation of his team-mates at the full-time whistle on Monday night
Ruben Amorim was known to want the World Cup winner from Argentina, but the United hierarchy saw the value in Lammens, a player 10 years younger than Martinez with one of the most impressive records in Europe.
Take a bow Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox and Christopher Vivell. Coupled with United’s winning goal, fashioned by Sesko, Mbeumo and Cunha, this was a moment to savour for United’s chief executive, director of football and head of recruitment.
Lammens shut out United’s opponents in the Premier League for the first time in almost a year – even though one of his superstitions includes banning family and friends from wishing him luck to keep a clean sheet before games.
Gone is the uncertainty of Andre Onana’s spell in goal for United after the Cameroon international was sent out on loan to Trabzonspor after Lammens’ £21.7m move from Antwerp went through.
The boy from Zottegem in East Flanders is here to stay, and Moyes knows it.
‘The goalie was bloody brilliant for them tonight,’ said the Everton boss. ‘The save he made from Michael Keane, the way he was with corner kicks, the pressure we had. For me, he was their best player.’
